Harry Potter Back in Time
by monkeymail
Summary: Harry and Ron are sent back in time in order to stop Dolohov from changing the future. Meanwhile Harry, Ron, Hermione as well as the rest of the Weasley's and the Order are given three books to read begining with The Order of the Phoenix. (Re-post...sort of)
1. The Problem

**I do not own Harry Potter, anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling.**

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The Problem

Harry Potter was bleeding. A sad smile came to his lips as he remembered the last time he had cut himself on a piece of glass, that of course had been just over two years ago just before his seventeenth birthday. It was just over a year ago that the Battle of Hogwarts had taken place and Harry had spent much of the last year tracking down the last of the remaining Death Eaters.

Harry's best friend Ron Weasley had aided Harry on many of these missions in between working at his older brother's joke shop and studying to be an Auror along with Harry. This you could say is what led to the occasion of Harry's finger once again bleeding. He was in the kitchen looking for something for his headache when he had been startled by Ron who had flooed in causing Harry to drop his glass of water, thus cutting his finger.

"Oh good you're up, I was hoping you would be" Ron said as he examined Harry who was now healing his finger. Harry turned to face Ron, his bright red hair was a mess as though he himself had just woken up, and then remembering the time and Ron's attitude towards sleep, Harry thought this to be the case.

"What are you doing here Ron? It's one in the morning" Harry asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Hermione just flooed and said for us to meet her and Kingsley in his office, but don't ask me what for 'cause, as usual, she didn't say".

Half an hour later:

"Hermione, I have no clue what you just said, you need to slow down" Harry said calmly to the slightly over exited Hermione who had, no sooner than Harry and Ron stepped out of the fireplace and shaken hands with Kingsley, launched into a very complicated and very fast explanation of what they were doing at the Ministry at this time of the night. She smacked him lightly on the arm before taking a deep breath and re-explaining the situation.  
"Harry," Hermione said slowly, her brow furrowed as she struggled to put the concept into words that both he and Ron would understand "do you remember what I said about time in third year?"

"Err, other than it's extremely dangerous to mess with? No, not really," Harry said trying to think that far back. He was brought back to the present when Hermione sighed and rested her head on her hands.

"Hermione what's going on?" Harry questioned. He was starting to feel a prickle of dread in his stomach as he watched her. Hermione was about to answer when Kingsley interrupted her.

"Dolohov," he stated his eyes narrowing but his voice sounded tired. "He's gone back in time to just after Voldemort came back. We think he is trying to change the outcome of the war."

Ron swore, "He went back in time? Why would he do that? I mean, the slimy bastard took off as soon as he worked out Voldemort was going to lose the last battle, he wasn't exactly loyal," he added incredulously.

"No, but he never struck me as the kind of man that wanted anything other than power, and what does he care if Voldemort wins in the process, with the information he would have on not only us but the other Death Eaters as well, he would be a very valuable asset for Voldemort to have," countered Kingsley.

"Well then what are we doing about it?" Ron asked glancing from his girlfriend to the Minister as Harry pinched the bridge of his nose; his headache was coming back except now it not only included a psychotic Death Eater but time travel as well.

"Well that's where yourself, Harry and of course Hermione come in" Harry and Ron glanced at each other than back to Hermione.

"Obviously, you two are going to follow him" she said, answering their unspoken question.

_Well this just keeps getting better and better_ Harry thought as Hermione continued with her explanation.

"From what our sources have been able to tell us Dolohov managed to find a potion that sent himself and two others back to 1995, the good news is Dolohov was in Azkaban at the time so he doesn't know where to find Voldemort, the bad news is- "

"It won't take long for him to find him" Harry finished.

"Or be found" added Ron "and he happens to be a smart Death Eater, honestly how many Death Eaters can you think of that would do something like this? I mean he knows a lot about the Order –not to mention Snape."

"Like I said he will be a very valuable asset to Voldemort should they come into contact," said Kingsley. Harry frowned and walked towards the fire staring into the flames that he and Ron had emerged from not ten minutes before.  
"What's the matter Harry?" Hermione asked gently placing her hand on his shoulder.

Harry gave a bitter laugh, "What's the matter? Not only are we going back in time to try and catch one of the most vicious Death Eaters we have ever come across, but seeing the Order as well, because there is no way that we will be able to avoid them-" Harry trailed off taking a breath as he turned to face the other three people in the room. "I-It's just, going back, seeing Sirius and Remus and Tonks-"

"and Fred" added Ron

"and Fred, I don't think I would be able to handle saying goodbye again or not without telling them what will happen" Harry finished, his eyes sliding to the floor. He looked up and was surprised to see not only Hermione but Kingsley smiling.

"Well that is what I was trying to tell you before" she took a deep breath "You can change it, I've been doing some research and according to my books there are only three things that are constant and un-avoidable with time; births, bondings through marriage or otherwise and natural deaths."

She was about to go on when Ron interrupted again, "And how many people do we know who have died a natural death?"  
Hermione frowned and smacked him lightly on the arm for interrupting.

"You see everything that happens inbetween can be changed. So in theory you can tell them and stop it from happening" she finished watching as both Ron and Harry's looks of confusion turned into wide smiles as she explained.

"So they won't die and they'll be here when we get back?" Harry asked the hope of seeing Sirius as well as the others alive and well shining in his eyes, a look that was reflected in Ron's as he no doubt though of his brother.

"Provided nothing else happens, from what I've read, yes".

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**Okay so some of you may recognise this story from earlier in the year before the purge of the reading the books stories. I just wanted to say that for those that were or still are interested in my story i have recently started posting it on monkeymail-92 livejournal (remove spaces) and that is where the rest of the chapters will be.**

**Thankyou and if you have any questions just pm me.**


	2. Going Back

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling. Please review :)**

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Going Back

Sirius Black was bored, they were in the middle of an Order meeting and Snape was going on about some development to do with the recruiting of new Death Eaters _blah blah blah_. Sirius had surprised himself with the level of attention he had given this particular meeting considering it was Snape who was talking. Not that he didn't listen to the meetings, it was just that, well, it was Snape. Sirius couldn't help thinking that he would much rather be upstairs with his godson, Harry, who had just been shoved upstairs by Molly not ten minutes ago. Sirius looked around the room at the other Order members who were present for the meeting wondering if they were just as bored as he was.

Sirius didn't quite know the relationship between Moody and Snape and he figured that Moody only trusted Snape because Dumbledore did, and even then, every time they were in the same room Moody would have his good eye trained on Snape for the entire time, _kind of like now_ Sirius thought with a smile. Moody's other eye -the magical blue one- was whizzing around in its socket no doubt keeping a look out for the teenagers upstairs, which, Sirius guessed must have been much more interesting than the meeting he was currently sitting in. At one point Sirius had thought he had seen Moody smile but he blinked and Moody glared at him so Sirius let it go as a figment of his imagination.

Sirius's focus shifted to Kingsley, Hestia and Diggle who were paying rapt attention to Snape as he went on about one thing or another, his eyes lingered on Emmeline who was twirling her long dark brown hair around her index finger, well, she was until she noticed him staring and turned her attention back to Snape. Sirius watched her as a light dusting of pink covered her cheeks, just like they used to when- Sirius shook his head trying to get rid of the images in his head, he hadn't even been in this house for more than two months and he was already starting to go crazy. He rubbed his eyes and turned to look at his cousin.

Tonks, unlike some of the others looked just as bored as Sirius, though he had to smile when he saw her sneaking looks at Remus when she thought he wasn't looking, and when Sirius glanced at Remus, he nearly burst out laughing when he saw him doing the same thing. Sirius found their crush on each other to be highly amusing but that was mainly due to the colour Remus's face would go when she was the one to catch him staring. Sirius had long since decided that he would keep an eye on them, one so he could tease Moony and two because he thought that they would make a good couple, kind of like opposites. Before Sirius had a chance to continue his analysis he was pulled back into reality by Snape who was now apparently addressing him.

"Are you listening Black? Or is the concept to much for you to handle" Snape said glaring at him annoyance written all over his face.

"Yes actually I was Snape, something about breaking in the new recruits, I'm surprised they let you near them, I would've thought you'd scare them away" Sirius retorted cheerfully.

"Now gentlemen" Dumbledore interrupted before Snape could open his mouth "I do believe we are in the middle of a meeting, please keep the comments civil" He finished looking at the both of them.

"I will if he will" Sirius stated glaring at Snape who's comment was once again lost. This time however it was due to the rather loud thud that came from the entrance way, shortly followed by the screams of Sirius's mother followed again by another bang. Sirius groaned as he, Remus and Moody went to investigate the noise, well Moody probably already knew what made the noise but he doesn't count.

They reached the top of the stairs and were startled to find Harry and Ron standing in the middle of the entrance way. Sirius had just enough time to hear Ron mutter something about needing to bend his knees next time before both Remus and Moody had their wands pointed at them.

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1999:

Ron couldn't believe he was doing this, well being the best friend of Harry Potter he could, but that didn't really stop it from being unbelievable. After they had worked out most of the arrangements, Hermione had sent them home to pack, Harry no doubt was in the process of explaining what was happening to Ginny, who was staying with him at Grimmauld Place for the last few days of her summer vacation – not that his Mother approved, but she hadn't done much to stop them – Ron, on the other hand had found himself living with George for the last year, along with the added occasion that he stayed with Hermione at her parents' house. So it was in the second bedroom to the flat above WWW that Ron found himself packing for his and Harry's latest adventure. Ron snorted at the thought as he added the last few items of clothing into the rucksack he was taking with him only half an hour from going back in time.

Hermione had been fairly sketchy when she was explaining just exactly how they were supposed to be doing this, she had said something about them having to use some kind of potion, he was guessing that it was probably the same one that Dolohov had used, but she hadn't gone into much detail. Which, in all fairness was probably because she knew that he and Harry wouldn't understand what she was saying even if she tried. He packed the last of his belongings and flooed back to Kingsley's office where Hermione, Harry, Ginny and of course Kingsley were waiting for him.

He arrived to find Harry talking quietly to Ginny in a corner while Hermione and Kingsley were going over last minute preparations. Hermione looked up while he dusted himself off she smiled and beckoned him as well as the others over.

"Okay, so now that you are both here, I guess we can get started." She said looking between them "Once you get there you will need to go straight to Dumbledore and explain what happened-"

"That's kind of obvious 'Mione" Ron said with a smile as she tuted at him.

"As I was saying" she began again glaring at Ron which cause both Harry and Ginny to snicker "You should end up at Grimmauld Place so you may want to brace yourselves for when you see the others" she continued looking at Harry who she suspected still blamed himself for Sirius death, of course Ron knew she was right but he wouldn't tell her that. It was Harry's business and Harry wouldn't believe anyone who said otherwise unless it was Sirius himself, which Ron was counting on.

"Right so what do you want us to do?" Harry suddenly asked, changing the subject before it got too gloomy. It was Kingsley who answered.

"Hermione and I have managed to work out the potion that Dolohov used. Surprisingly it was fairly simple to work, even if it was complex to make apparently it takes months to brew." He said with a grimace.

"So Dolohov has been working on this plan for months? He could have Merlin knows what worked out by now!" Harry exclaimed, "Wait, Hermione how did you get it?"

"Unspeakables owed me a favour, and they had just what I wanted" she told him shrugging.

"You two need to get going though," said Kingsley as Hermione turned and gave Harry a tight hug while Ginny did the same to Ron. She then turned back to Ron and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Be careful, and don't get into too much trouble" she whispered. Ron bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"We'll be back soon" he said pulling away and saw Harry embracing his sister. Hermione handed them both two vials of liquid one green and one purple.

"Be careful with these the green one you'll drink now so don't worry too much about it but the purple one is your ticket home so don't lose it!" Hermione told them sternly. Harry nodded and tucked his and Ron's vials into his mole skin pouch that was once again hanging around his neck. They gave Hermione and Ginny one last kiss and then swallowed the green potion.

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1995:

As soon as the liquid touched the back of Harry's throat he felt like gaging, the stuff tasted worse than Hermione's cooking had back when they were on the run, the room around him was spinning and morphing so fast that it made his limbs tingle and his head spin, colours flew past blurring and bleeding into each other like some kind of abstract art. Harry closed his eyes so he wouldn't throw up and the last thing he saw was Ron do the same. Then it stopped. The ground beneath him shifted and heard them land on the ground with a thud. He opened his eyes and looked around the first thing that registered in his mind was that they were in the entry way of Grimmauld Place but not the one that he was in the middle of remodelling. This house was dark and dank, they had made it. The second thing that registered was the portrait of Mrs Black screaming at them.

"FILTH, SCUM! HOW DARE YOU BEFOUL THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS!" she screamed Harry automatically raised his wand and pointed it at the portrait.

"Shut up!" he yelled and a bang sounded from his wand, the curtains closed and the portrait was silent. He turned to Ron who was still on the floor and helped him up.

"Next time remind me to bend my knees" he said, then he gasped and Harry spun around to find Moody, Remus and finally Sirius pointing their wands at him.

"Harry, Ron what are you doing down here?" Remus asked calmly his eyes darting from Harry to Ron, his wand lowering no more than an inch from its position. However before either Ron or Harry could answer Moody interrupted,

"Are you blind Remus? You know for a fact that that isn't what Potter was wearing when we picked him up," Moody growled suspiciously.

"He could have changed," suggested Sirius, though even he had to admit looking closer at the two boys, they were older than fifteen.

"Don't be stupid Black, they're both taller and look to nearly twenty, besides I can see Potter and Weasley upstairs," Moody growled back, momentarily taking his eyes off the two intruders to give Sirius a pointed look as the glass eyeball rolled towards the ceiling to where Sirius presumed the real Harry and Ron were.

"So," said Remus as his wand once again came level with Harry's chest. "If Harry and Ron are currently upstairs, that begs the question, who are you two and how did you get in here?"

"Probably Death Eater spies trying to get on the good side of their new master, you did a good job of your disguise, pity you got the age wrong and the clothing, well that's just bad timing" Moody growled. Harry almost winced at the harshness of Moody's voice and the cold glare that Sirius was giving him.

"We're not Death Eaters!" protested Ron.

"And they call me mad, now answer the question!" replied Moody, barely avoiding shouting.

"Listen we'll explain everything, just please take us to Dumbledore" Harry said directing it to Remus and Sirius who were more likely to do so than Moody. Sirius shared a look with Remus and nodded. He then turned and walked back down the stairs Remus followed shortly after, then Ron and Harry and Moody behind him.

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**Shhhh! I'm trying to get this story back up on here because it has such a bigger viewing base than on LJ...let's see how i go :)**


	3. Explanations

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling. Please review :)**

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Explanations

"What made the noise?" Molly asked as Sirius re-entered the room.

"Harry and Ron…well…sort of," he said shrugging. He took a seat just as Remus emerged from the hallway followed by Harry, Ron and Moody. Molly frowned. Why were they bringing Harry and Ron down into the meeting? Sirius knew they weren't supposed to know what was going on, but then, as she had a proper look at the two boys she realised that they looked older. Ron was a couple of inches taller and had more muscle than he had this morning, she could also see faint scars, like burn marks on the lower part of his arms where the sleeves of his green sweater had been pushed back. She looked at Harry and noticed that he looked different as well, he was still skinny but that looked as though it were muscle as well, he had the burn marks on his arms and his jeans and grey t-shirt looked like they actually fitted for once. These weren't the children she had seen earlier this evening.

She turned to Dumbledore who was calmly regarding the two new comers but his question was directed towards Remus.

"Care to explain Remus?" he said his blue eyes never leaving Harry.

"Uh...actually I can't. They were the ones who made the noise and Moody thinks they are Death Eaters but they requested to see you," Remus told him calmly.

"And do you think they are Death Eaters Remus? Sirius?"

Remus gave Harry and Ron a sideways look and glanced towards Sirius before answering. "No. If they were Death Eaters they wouldn't have asked to see you and they wouldn't be standing here now calmly as they are. So no I don't think they are." Dumbledore nodded and looked at Sirius waiting for his answer.

"No I don't think they are. Harry has been with his Aunt and Uncle under constant watch," at this _Harry_ rolled his eyes remembering how annoying that had been at the time, "and Ron has been here the entire time so it can't be polyjuice or anything like that besides how would Death Eaters get in here?" Sirius said watching _Harry_ from his seat. He had a strange look on his face, a mix of disbelief, joy and sadness. It made him nervous, why was he looking at him like that?

"You know instead of asking yourselves how we got here, why don't you ask us?" _Ron_ commented half smiling at the stunned look on _Harry's_ face that had appeared once he had gotten a proper look at Sirius.

"Good point Mr Weasley, as I do believe that that is who you are, now why don't both take a seat and tell us how you came to be here," Dumbledore said smiling, his eyes twinkling.

"Well" Harry said coming out of his stupor, "we are from the future, 1999 in fact and we are here because we need your help," Harry swallowed, "and we want to change the future."

* * *

The Order had taken their news surprisingly well in _Harry's_ opinion. They had agreed that their younger counter parts and those not in the Order didn't need to know the full details of why they were in the past, they were however much to Molly's chagrin told that _Harry _and _Ron _where chasing a small group of Death Eaters that had come to the past in hopes of changing how the war had ended.

They were now all gathered in the kitchen eating dinner. _Harry_ and _Ron_ were trying to have a quiet conversation of where they were going to search first. Sirius was switching his gaze between _Harry_, Harry and occasionally Remus and Tonks when they would touch and then blush like crazy. He had seen both _Harry_ and _Ron_ snickering when they saw this and thought this was an interesting development in his theory, maybe he could get them to spill later. Harry who had also noticed Sirius sneaking looks at him was immersed in a conversation at the other end of the table with Ron and Hermione regarding their new guests and he could see the twins and Ginny doing the same at least they were until Fred broke the silence.

"So, you're them?" he said pointing to Harry and Ron "Did you really come back to catch Death Eaters? What exactly is it like in the future? That's what you came here to change isn't it?" He said to the older versions of his younger brother and friend.

"Yes, we are them" _Harry_ replied as he smiled at Fred's enthusiasm "And yes we really did come back to catch Death Eaters and as for the future…it's pretty good, Voldemort's gone and there are hardly any Death Eaters left."

"So why change it?" Hermione asked. She was very curious as to the reason they came back. And where was she? Surely she would be with them, or was that why they came back, had something happened to her? _Ron_ saw the look on her face and immediately calmed her.

"Our Hermione is keeping an eye out for any leads for us in the future" he told her and she smiled distinctly relieved. "It's not exactly the entire future we want to change just some events and…deaths…" _Ron_ replied trailing off. Molly's eyes widened as did most of those around the table.

"Who dies?" she asked tears coming to her eyes praying it was no one from her family. She saw both of their faces darken and was afraid to know the answer.

"Should we tell them now?" _Ron_ asked _Harry_ "I mean it's not like we can go looking for Dolohov tonight." Everyone now had their eyes trained on _Harry_ waiting for his answer.

"I suppose, and I don't really fancy going to the," he mouthed the word _graveyard_, his younger self didn't need the reminder "this late at night," _Harry_ replied. He wasn't really looking forward to telling them everything and he knew _Ron_ was feeling the same. He looked around the room at everyone waiting for an explanation. He could see the curiosity, hope and fear mixed in their eyes, particularly those of the Order members who had survived the first war. "_Ron?_ Can I talk to you in the hallway please?" _Harry _asked moving to the door. _Ron _nodded before following.

"What are you thinking?" _Ron_ asked as he shut the door behind him.

"How are we going to tell them? I mean a lot happened between now and the end of the war." _Ron_ frowned at _Harry's_ question, he was right, a lot had happened and he didn't exactly fancy telling their loved ones out right that they were going to die. _Ron_ was usually a blunt person when it came to telling people what he thought; Hermione had always put it down to a lack of tact. This of course was true, particularly when he was younger before the fallout with _Harry_ during the Horcrux hunt, but now, how could he tell his younger self that he abandoned his best friend because his own insecurities? Or tell George that he had to live without his twin and Sirius, how could _Harry_ tell his own Godfather, a man that meant so much to him that he has less than a year to live? _Ron_ was so caught up in his own thoughts that he almost missed what _Harry_ was saying as he continued.

"We don't have much time either because we have to track down Dolohov, we need a way to tell them like, like a pensieve maybe?" _Harry_ finished looking at _Ron_.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" _Ron_ asked not liking the look Harry was giving him.

"Well you're the strategist and you've been spending heaps of time with Hermione," he paused "She didn't happen to mention anything did she?" _Harry_ asked looking hopeful. _Harry's right,_ _Ron_ thought and there was something. She had mentioned something months ago but what was it? He knew it had something to do with Harry and some Muggle. _That's it!_

"_Harry,_ remember what Hermione said when you were reading the biography of that Muggle?" _Ron_ said smiling

Harry frowned, "Winston Churchill?"

"Yeah, him and she was saying how wizards could write their memoires way easier than Muggles-"

"Because, they can pull their memories right out of their heads, _Ron_ that's brilliant!" _Harry_ exclaimed as he finished _Ron's_ thought. _Ron_ laughed and rolled his eyes as they headed back to the kitchen where the people of the past were waiting for them.

"Always the tone of surprise"

* * *

Half an hour later after explaining their idea to the Order, _Harry_ and _Ron_ as well as the others sat at the kitchen table with three books in front of them. Sirius who had been rather relieved to see that his godson had made it out of the war alive was now starting to feel a sort of dread settle in the bottom of his stomach and one look from Remus told him that the former professor was feeling the same. He took a deep breath and turned to ask _Harry _the question that had been on his mind since the books were first brought up.

"How is this going to be on my nerves? I mean I know that you, well, younger you that is, is pretty skimpy on the details when it comes to telling us about the dangerous stuff he-you've, Merlin that's confusing, done. So how bad is it?" Harry's eyes snapped to his older self and prayed there wouldn't be too much about the Dursley's in the books because that was the one conversation with Sirius he didn't want to have any time soon.

"You won't have a heart attack if that's what you mean, maybe a calming draught for some bits but other than that you should be fine," _Harry_ said taking his eyes off Harry and directing his gaze back toward a pale looking Sirius and an equally pale looking Remus. Remus nodded and picked up the first book. He sighed as he looked at the title; it seemed as though Dumbledore's plan to keep Harry as well as Ron and Hermione out of the loop wasn't going to work as well as he thought.

"Well if we are going to start tonight, I think I'll start the first chapter if nobody minds," Remus said as he opened the book then in a loud voice he began the chapter. "**Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix**"


	4. Dudley Demented

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you recognise or is in bold is the work of JKRowling. Please review :)**

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Dudley Demented

Remus cleared his throat and said "**Dudley Demented**." Harry's eyes widened the Durselys were the last thing that he wanted to hear about.

"Do we have to read about them?" he asked _Harry _"Can't we just you know skip them?" he pleaded as his face paled.

Several people around the room frowned in confusion, what could be so bad about his relatives? Sirius's eyes narrowed, Harry had told him that he didn't really like the Dursleys but what have they done to make Harry look that scared?

"Sorry Harry, but unfortunately _all_ of our secrets come out in these books, even the ones you don't know about yet" _Harry _replied casting a meaningful glance towards Dumbledore.

"**The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually gleaming stood dusty in their drives and lawns that were once emerald green lay parched and yellowing - 'for the use of hosepipes had been banned due to drought. Deprived of their usual car-washing and lawn-mowing pursuits, the inhabitants of Privet Drive had retreated into the shade of their cool houses, windows thrown wide in the hope of tempting in a nonexistent breeze. **

"You know for a book about Harry-" started Fred

"-this really isn't that interesting" finished George

"Yeah well let's see you find something interesting about Privet Drive" Harry grumbled from his place next to Sirius, clearly not impressed with the situation.

"**The only person left outdoors was a teenage boy who was lying flat on his back in a flowerbed outside number four.** **He was a skinny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who had the pinched, slightly unhealthy look of someone who has grown a lot in a short space of time.**"

"You grew in fifth year?" muttered _Ron _to _Harry_ "I never noticed" he laughed dodging a blow from _Harry_ to his ribs.

**His jeans were torn and dirty, his T-shirt baggy and faded, and the soles of his trainers were peeling away from the uppers.**"

Molly's eyes narrowed as she looked at the clothes Harry currently wore- baggy and faded would be exactly how she would describe them- but before she could say anything, Sirius poked Harry in the ribs and said "as soon as I'm free, we are going shopping"

"Can I come?" asked Tonks who looked rather excited at the prospect.

"Sure, Moony can come to" he grinned as said werewolf blushed when Tonks smiled at him.

**Harry Potter's appearance did not endear him to the neighbours, who were the sort of people who thought scruffiness ought to be punishable by law, but as he had hidden himself behind a large hydrangea bush this evening he was quite invisible to passers-by. In fact, the only way he would be spotted was if his Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia stuck their heads out of the living-room window and looked straight down into the flowerbed below.**

"Harry, why are you in a flower bed?" asked Hermione raising an eyebrow.

"Listening to the news," he said not looking at her, instead playing with a loose thread on his sleeve.

**On the whole, Harry thought he was to be congratulated on his idea of hiding here. **

Before Remus could continue the twins had moved over towards Harry and were shaking his hand.

"Congratulations old chap" said George

"Yes jolly good job well done" said Fred, Harry rolled his eyes and laughed at the Twins antics.

**He was not, perhaps, very comfortable lying on the hot, hard earth but, on the other hand, nobody was glaring at him, grinding their teeth so loudly that he could not hear the news, or shooting nasty questions at him, as had happened every time he had tried sitting down in the living room to watch television with his aunt and uncle.**

Harry froze suddenly aware of what day this was, of course he knew that it was the day he had gotten attacked by Dementors, but it was also the day that his uncle had tried to choke him. Harry stiffened and paled further dread taking over his body. Suddenly he felt something warm wrap around his shoulders. He looked up to see that Sirius had his arm around Harry's shoulders and he was smiling at him. This made him feel slightly better.

**Almost as though this thought had fluttered through the open window, Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle, suddenly spoke.**

"I thought he only spoke troll Harry?" Ron joked. Harry smiled at Ron and moved further into his godfather's embrace.

**'Glad to see the boy's stopped trying to butt in. Where is he, anyway?'**

**'I don't know,' said Aunt Petunia, unconcerned. 'Not in the house.'**

Sirius growled.

**Uncle Vernon grunted. **

**'Watching the news . . .' he said scathingly. 'I'd like to know what he's really up to. As if a normal boy cares what's on the news - 'Dudley hasn't got a clue what's going on; doubt he knows who the Prime Minister is! Anyway, it's not as if there'd be anything about his lot on our news-'**

**'Vernon, shh!' said Aunt Petunia. The window's open!'**

**'Oh - yes - sorry, dear.'**

**The Dursleys fell silent. Harry listened to a jingle about Fruit 'n' Bran breakfast cereal while he watched Mrs Figg, a batty cat-loving old lady **

"Harry!" Molly exclaimed while Sirius, the Twins and Ron sniggered.

**from nearby Wisteria Walk, amble slowly past. She was frowning and muttering to herself. **

"Well I guess that does make her sound kind of batty," Ginny giggled._ Ron_ resisted the urge to gag at the sappy look that flickered across _Harry's_ face.

"She was probably talking to Mundungus," Hermione said as Harry frowned,

"I know that now," he grumbled.

**Harry was very pleased he was concealed behind the bush, as Mrs Figg had recently taken to asking him round for tea whenever she met him in the street. **

"Yeah and now I know why" Harry said scathingly, he was not happy about being followed or being watched all summer.

**She had rounded the corner and vanished from view before Uncle Vernon's voice floated out of the window again.**

**'Dudders out for tea?'**

**'At the Polkisses',' said Aunt Petunia fondly. 'He's got so many little friends, he's so popular . . .'**

**Harry suppressed a snort with difficulty. **

This time however neither of the Harrys' had any difficulty in doing so, and the sound of them snorting at exactly the same time had most of the people in the room in hysterics bar Dumbledore, who was smiling, Moody, who was suppressing a smile and Snape, but he was a killjoy so they ignored him.

**The Dursleys really were astonishingly stupid about their son, Dudley. They had swallowed all his dim-witted lies about having tea with a different member of his gang every night of the summer holidays.**

Molly frowned, _what horrible parents _she thought, if any of her children had tried to do that, well they'd be in for it!

**Harry knew perfectly well that Dudley had not been to tea anywhere; he and his gang spent every evening vandalising the play park, smoking on street corners and throwing stones at passing cars and children. **

The women in the room (Molly, Emmeline, Hestia and Tonks) glared at the book.

"What a horrid child," said Hestia shock gracing her young features. Emmeline who was content to just sit and listen to the rather than commenting nodded in her agreement, and chuckled quietly when she saw how ruffled Molly had become.

**Harry had seen them at it during his evening walks around Little Whinging; he had spent most of the holidays wandering the streets, scavenging newspapers from bins along the way.**

"Sounds like our camping trip, only easier," said _Ron_ to _Harry_ who laughed. Remus who had heard gave them a funny look.

"When did you go camping?" he asked drawing the attention of the rest of the room.

"Uh…" _Ron_ trailed off not really wanting to give them an answer; he was of course saved by _Harry_.

"In the summer before seventh year," he said calmly. He was only half lying and from the looks on their faces he could tell that some of the others, Remus in particular, didn't believe them. Remus's eyes narrowed but he continued reading, he would get answers later.

**The opening notes of the music that heralded the seven o'clock news reached Harry's ears and his stomach turned over. Perhaps tonight - after a month of waiting - would be the night.**

Harry looked at his hands again. He had hated not knowing what Voldemort was doing.

**'Record numbers of stranded holidaymakers fill airports as the Spanish baggage-handlers' strike reaches its second week -'**  
**'Give 'em a lifelong siesta, I would,' snarled Uncle Vernon over the end of the **

"H-How could he say that!" Mr Weasley spluttered.

"Trust me," replied Harry, "for him, that's almost polite."

**newsreaders sentence, but no matter: outside in the flowerbed, Harry's stomach seemed to unclench. If anything had happened, it would surely have been the first item on the news; death and destruction were more important than stranded holidaymakers.**

"I don't know, Muggle newspapers still make quiet a fuss over people stranded in another country, especially after a disaster," Hermione said

**He let out a long, slow breath and stared up at the brilliant blue sky. Every day this summer had been the same: the tension, the expectation, the temporary relief, and then mounting tension again . . . and always, growing more insistent all the time, the question of why nothing had happened yet.**

"I hate that feeling," both of the Harry's said at the same time. They looked at each other shocked that they had said exactly the same thing at the same time.

"Guess you don't really change Harry," laughed Fred followed by the rest of the room once again excluding Snape, who rolled his eyes and wished for the hundredth time that evening that he wasn't there listening to Potter's life.

**He kept listening, just in case there was some small clue, not recognised for what it really was by the Muggles - an unexplained disappearance, perhaps, or some strange accident . . . but the baggage-handlers' strike was followed by news about the drought in the Southeast ('I hope he's listening next door!' bellowed Uncle Vernon. 'Him with his sprinklers on at three in the morning!'), **

"Like you didn't have them on yourself," scoffed Harry

**then a helicopter that had almost crashed in a field in Surrey, then a famous actress's divorce from her famous husband ('As if we're interested in their sordid affairs,' sniffed Aunt Petunia, who had followed the case obsessively in every magazine she could lay her bony hands on).**

Ginny and Hermione giggled at the ridiculousness of Harry's aunt.

**Harry closed his eyes against the now blazing evening sky as the newsreader said, '- and finally, Bungy the budgie has found a novel way of keeping cool this summer. Bungy, who lives at the Five Feathers in Barnsley, has learned to water ski! Mary Dorkins went to find out more.'**  
**Harry opened his eyes. If they had reached water-skiing budgerigars, there would be nothing else worth hearing. He rolled cautiously on to his front and raised himself on to his knees and elbows, preparing to crawl out from under the window.**

"Here we go," said Ron, the others sent him questioning looks

"Harry's being cautious" explained Hermione "He's not very good at it"

"HEY!" yelled both Harry's while _Ron_ doubled over in laughed at the look on their faces.

**He had moved about two inches when several things happened in very quick succession.**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody yelled at the top of his lungs, making the entire room jump, especially those who had forgotten he was there.

**A loud, echoing crack broke the sleepy silence like a gunshot; a cat streaked out from under a parked car and flew out of sight; a shriek, a bellowed oath and the sound of breaking china**

"That is a lot to happen at one time" whistled Bill.

**came from the Dursleys' living room, and as though this was the signal Harry had been waiting for he jumped to his feet, at the same time pulling from the waistband of his jeans a thin wooden wand as if he were unsheathing a sword**

"Yeah 'cause you would know the difference," laughed the Twins

"…Well…" Harry trailed of looking rather flushed.

"…There was that one time…" continued Ginny, surprising herself that she had been able to talk with Harry in the room, let alone finish his sentence. This didn't go unnoticed.

**- but before he could draw himself up to full height, the top of his head collided with the Dursleys' open window. The resultant crash made Aunt Petunia scream even louder.**

**Harry felt as though his head had been split in two. Eyes streaming, he swayed, trying to focus on the street to spot the source of the noise, but he had barely staggered upright when two large purple hands reached through the open window and closed tightly around his throat.**

"He did WHAT!" yelled Sirius, who had been relatively quiet for most of the book so far. He pulled Harry so he could see him and with shaking hands pulled down Harry's collar to reveal almost completely faded hand marks. The rest of the room was in a rage, people were shouting, glaring, and threatening things so loudly it was impossible to make out what any individual was saying.

"Harry, why didn't you tell us?" Hermione yelled. Harry looked down to avoid her and Ron's gaze, afraid of what he would see there. He hated pity. He couldn't do anything with it, pity wouldn't change anything and that in his opinion made it completely useless.

"Well it's not exactly something that comes up in normal conversation is it?" he mumbled softly. Hermione was about to reply when _Ron_ addressed the room, his eyes on _Harry_ who had also found the ground to be very interesting at the moment.

"Listen, this isn't something you all should be yelling about," when those such as his mother and Hermione looked like they wanted to argue he added, "especially with Harry here, it's not exactly something either of them want to remember!" _Harry _sent him a grateful look.

"Wow, _Ron_ you actually have tact in the future!" Fred smirked deciding that it was a good idea to come up with a new topic.

"I've always had tact!" _Ron_ replied to incredulous looks "I just choose not to use it," he finished by doing the mature thing and poking his tongue out at Fred.

Remus, his usually brown eyes now slightly golden was watching Sirius and Harry; he leaned across to both of them while the room was being distracted by Fred and Ron and whispered, "We'll talk about this later okay?"

Harry nodded somewhat timidly and Sirius drew him back into his arms not caring if Harry protested, but he didn't. He gladly settled into Sirius' embrace, happy that neither Remus nor Sirius had gotten too mad, though he wasn't looking forward to their talk.

**'Put - it - away!' Uncle Vernon snarled into Harry's ear. 'Now! Before - anyone - sees!'**

Harry could hear various angry whispers from around the room, he looked up from his hiding spot to see Dumbledore looking at him sadly, the ever present twinkle in his eye was gone and he seemed to convey his deepest regrets to Harry, Harry nodded and Dumbledore gave him a sad smile. It was at this point that Harry noticed something strange in the way he was being looked at. Dumbledore wasn't making eye contact. Harry frowned unsure of what this meant, his thoughts seemed to drag on for hours rather than seconds, but he was pulled back into reality by the sound of Remus's voice.

**'Get - off - me!' Harry gasped. For a few seconds they struggled, Harry pulling at his uncle's sausage-like fingers with his left hand, his right maintaining a firm grip on his raised wand; then, as the pain in the top of Harry's head gave a particularly nasty throb; Uncle Vernon yelped and released Harry as though he had received an electric shock. Some invisible force seemed to have surged through his nephew, making him impossible to hold.**

"Harry, that's extremely powerful accidental magic!" Hermione gasped as other around the room nodded. Snape resisted the urge to roll his eyes, it wasn't accidental, it was self-preservation. Not that Potter would know what that was with all of the stunts he had pulled over the years.

**Panting, Harry fell forwards over the hydrangea bush, straightened up and stared around. There was no sign of what had caused the loud cracking noise, but there were several faces peering through various nearby windows. Harry stuffed his wand hastily back into his jeans and tried to look innocent.**

"Yeah, key word of that sentence: tried" teased Ron

"Hey!" protested Harry but was silenced when Hermione, _Ron_ and his future self, agreed.

"Well, I'll just have to teach you," Sirius said poking Harry in the ribs, he then turned to Remus, "won't we."

"Sirius Black you will do no such thing!" Molly scolded, Sirius rolled his eyes at Molly and winked and Harry who grinned.

**'Lovely evening!' shouted Uncle Vernon, waving at Mrs Number Seven opposite, who was glaring from behind her net curtains. 'Did you hear that car backfire just now? Gave Petunia and me quite a turn!'**

"I'll give you a turn" grumbled Arthur missing the stern look from his wife and the snickers from his children.

**He continued to grin in a horrible, manic way until all the curious neighbours had disappeared from their various windows, then the grin became a grimace of rage as he beckoned Harry back towards him.**

"Stay away from him Harry!" the Twins cried. Harry looked at them like they were high, but it was _Harry_ who said:

"I'm not dense you know," then with an evil smirk he continued "That's Ron's job."

"Yea-Hey!" Ron glared at Harry who smiled apologetically and the glare softened.

**Harry moved a few steps closer, taking care to stop just short of the point at which Uncle Vernon's outstretched hands could resume their strangling.**

"Good, don't give into him, do things on your own terms" growled Moody while Tonks rolled her eyes at him.

**'What the devil do you mean by it, boy?' asked Uncle Vernon in a croaky voice that trembled with fury.**

**'What do I mean by what?' said Harry coldly. He kept looking left and right up the street, still hoping to see the person who had made the cracking noise.**

"You'd make a good Auror Potter" said Moody, Tonks and Kingsley nodded.

**'Making a racket like a starting pistol right outside our -'**

**'I didn't make that noise,' said Harry firmly.**

**Aunt Petunia's thin, horsy face now appeared beside Uncle Vernon's wide, purple one. She looked livid.**

**'Why were you lurking under our window?'**

**'Yes - yes, good point, Petunia! What were you doing under our window, boy?'**

**'Listening to the news,' said Harry in a resigned voice.**

**His aunt and uncle exchanged looks of outrage.**

**'Listening to the news! Again?'**

**'Well, it changes every day, you see,' said Harry.**

Harry felt Sirius shiver underneath him, he look questioningly at the older man who smiled and said "That's something Lily would have said" both Harry's smiled at this piece of information, happy to know he had something in common with his mother as well.

**'Don't you be clever with me, boy! I want to know what you're really up to - and don't give me any more of this listening to the news tosh! You know perfectly well that your lot -'**

**'Careful, Vernon!' breathed Aunt Petunia, and Uncle Vernon lowered his voice so that Harry could barely hear him,' - that your lot don't get on our news!'**

**'That's all you know,' said Harry.**

"Hey! I was on the Muggle news quite a bit two years ago!" defended Sirius

**The Dursleys goggled at him for a few seconds, then Aunt Petunia said, 'You're a nasty little liar. What are all those - ' she, too, lowered her voice so that Harry had to lip-read the next word, ' - owls doing if they're not bringing you news?'**

**'Aha!' said Uncle Vernon in a triumphant whisper. 'Get out of that one, boy! As if we didn't know you get all your news from those pestilential birds!' Harry hesitated for a moment. It cost him something to tell the truth this time, **

"Why would it- oh!" Ginny grimaced. The cost had obviously been admitting that his best friends and family weren't sending him any news.

**even though his aunt and uncle could not possibly know how bad he felt at admitting it. 'The owls . . . aren't bringing me news,' he said tonelessly.**

"Oh Harry, we're so sorry, it must have been so frustrating!" Hermione sighed

"It's fine, don't worry about it" he replied

**'I don't believe it,' said Aunt Petunia at once.**

**'No more do I,' said Uncle Vernon forcefully.**

**'We know you're up to something funny' said Aunt Petunia.**

**'We're not stupid, you know,' said Uncle Vernon.**

"Well that's news to me!" yelled Ginny as the others snorted. She was fed up with Harry's relatives and would be quite happy to introduce them to her wand. _Harry_ laughed at Ginny's comment and when she looked at him with a puzzled expression he simply told Remus to keep reading.

**'Well, that's news to me,' said Harry, **

Ginny flushed at saying the same thing as Harry, causing the teenagers to laugh.

**his temper rising, and before the Dursleys could call him back, he had wheeled about, crossed the front lawn, stepped over the low garden wall and was striding off up the street.**

"Harry don't do anything to reckless" fretted Molly

"He'll be fine dear" Arthur told her, and was very reassuring, well until she remembered about the Dementors.

**He was in trouble now and he knew it. He would have to face his aunt and uncle later and pay the price for his rudeness, but he: did not care very much just at the moment; he had much more pressing matters on his mind.**  
**Harry was sure the cracking noise had been made by someone Apparating or Disapparating. It was exactly the sound Dobby the house-elf made when he vanished into thin air. Was it possible that Dobby was here in Privet Drive? **

_Harry_ and _Ron_ winced at Dobby's name but it went unnoticed by the group.

"When was there a house-elf at your house?" asked Emmeline.

"Second year," was her only answer.

**Could Dobby be following him right at this very moment? As this thought occurred he wheeled around and stared back down Privet Drive, but it appeared to be completely deserted and Harry was sure that Dobby did not know how to become invisible.**  
**He walked on, hardly aware of the route he was taking, for he had pounded these streets so often lately that his feet carried him to his favourite haunts automatically. Every few steps he glanced back over his shoulder. Someone magical had been near him as he lay among Aunt Petunia's dying begonias, he was sure of it. Why hadn't they spoken to him, why hadn't they made contact, why were they hiding now?**

"Because I wasn't supposed to know" Harry grumbled glaring at no one in particular around the room; however his glare did linger on Dumbledore once he noticed the Headmaster was once again ignoring him.

**And then, as his feeling of frustration peaked, his certainty leaked away.**  
**Perhaps it hadn't been a magical sound after all. Perhaps he was so desperate for the tiniest sign of contact from the world to which he belonged that he was simply overreacting to perfectly ordinary noises. Could he be sure it hadn't been the sound of something breaking inside a neighbour's house?**

**Harry felt a dull, sinking sensation in his stomach and before he knew it the feeling of hopelessness that had plagued him all summer rolled over him once again.**

Snape glared at the book in front of him. He did not want to listen to Potter whine.

**Tomorrow morning he would be woken by the alarm at five o'clock so he could pay the owl that delivered the Daily Prophet - but was there any point continuing to take it? Harry merely glanced at the front page before throwing it aside these days; when the idiots who ran the paper finally realised that Voldemort was back it would be headline news, and that was the only kind Harry cared about.**

"That was probably a good thing," said Tonks thinking of the slander the _Prophet_ had been 'reporting'.

**If he was lucky, there would also be owls carrying letters from his best friends Ron and Hermione, though any expectation he'd had that their letters would bring him news had long since been dashed.**

"Sorry Harry," Ron and Hermione said to Harry, on one hand they had wanted to tell him everything but on the other hand they had also wanted to keep him safe and all they had achieved in doing was drive him crazy.

_**We can't say much about you-know-what, obviously . . . We've been told not to say anything important in case our letters go astray . . . We're quite busy but I can't give you details here . . . There's a fair amount going on, we'll tell you everything when we see you . . .**_

"Your right, they are sucky letters" Ron told Harry

Harry smiled and said, "Its fine I got you back enough, how about we only apologise for big things, otherwise we'll be here all night."

**But when were they going to see him? Nobody seemed too bothered with a precise date. Hermione had scribbled I expect we'll be seeing you quite soon inside his birthday card, but how soon was soon? As far as Harry could tell from the vague hints in their letters, Hermione and Ron were in the same place, presumably at Ron's parents' house. He could hardly bear to think of the pair of them having fun at The Burrow when he was stuck in Privet Drive. In fact, he was so angry with them he had thrown away, unopened, the two boxes of Honeydukes chocolates they'd sent him for his birthday.**

"There's no need to take it out on the chocolate," Remus muttered.

"You and your chocolate," Sirius laughed; at Harry's curious look he continued "Moony is addicted to the stuff."

"I'm not addicted!" defended Remus turning red.

"Oh, so that's why you always had some on you in third year then?" Harry teased.

"I-I…there…there were Dementors!" Remus stuttered turning a darker shade of red as Tonks giggled next to him.

"I did regret it though," Harry said while Remus composed himself.

**He'd regretted it later, after the wilted salad Aunt Petunia had provided for dinner that night.**

"See?"

"That's not a proper dinner!" cried Ron

**And what were Ron and Hermione busy with? Why wasn't he, Harry, busy? Hadn't he proved himself capable of handling much more than them? Had they all forgotten what he had done? Hadn't it been he who had entered that graveyard and watched Cedric being murdered, and been tied to that tombstone and nearly killed?**

Harry flinched and Sirius hugged him tighter to his side. He was also embarrassed, he sounded like such a jerk!

**Don't think about that, Harry told himself sternly for the hundredth time that summer. It was bad enough that he kept revisiting the graveyard in his nightmares, without dwelling on it in his waking moments too.**

Harry once again ignored the pitying looks that were being thrown his way.

**He turned a corner into Magnolia Crescent; halfway along he passed the narrow alleyway down the side of a garage where he had first clapped eyes on his godfather. Sirius, at least, seemed to understand how Harry was feeling. Admittedly, his letters were just as empty of proper news as Ron and Hermione's, but at least they contained words of caution and consolation instead of tantalising hints: **_**I know this must be frustrating for you . . . Keep your nose clean and everything will be OK . . .Be careful and don't do anything rash . . .**_

By the end of the sentence Remus had burst out laughing while Sirius looked insulted. Others such as Emmeline and Tonks were also giggling at the thought of a cautious Sirius Black.

"Hey I can be responsible and cautious!" He yelled at Remus. Remus, who was trying to calm down, took one look at Sirius before doubling over with laughter again. While Remus was preoccupied Tonks slipped the book out of his laughter-weakened hands and started to read.

**Well, thought Harry, as he crossed Magnolia Crescent, turned into Magnolia Road and headed towards the darkening play park, he had (by and large) done as Sirius advised. **

"See! My advice keeps him out of trouble!"

**He had at least resisted the temptation to tie his trunk to his broomstick and set off for The Burrow by himself. In fact, Harry thought his behaviour had been very good considering how frustrated and angry he felt at being stuck in Privet Drive so long, reduced to hiding in flowerbeds in the hope of hearing something that might point to what Lord Voldemort was doing. Nevertheless, it was quite galling to be told not to be rash by a man who had served twelve years in the wizard prison, Azkaban, escaped, attempted to commit the murder he had been convicted for in the first place, then gone on the run with a stolen Hippogriff.**

Now the entire room (once again not really including Moody, Dumbledore and Snape) was laughing at the look on Sirius's face.

Sirius pouted and poked Harry in the ribs. "You're supposed to be on my side" he mumbled. Harry shrugged and Sirius pouted even more.

"All right Padfoot I do concede that when it comes to Harry you are very responsible, but I have to say, that it's quite funny coming from you, or do I have to remind you of the 'Elvendork' incident?" Remus said a smile gracing his face, making him look years younger.

At this both _Harry_ and _Ron _smiled, they had heard this story and had to agree that it made it almost impossible to think of Sirius (as well as Harry's father, James) as responsible.

"Elvendork?" Harry asked raising an eyebrow. _What on earth is an Elvendork?_ He wondered. This time it was Sirius who laughed.

"Good times." He said to Remus then addressing the rest of the room and Harry, "I'll tell you later." Leaving them to wonder what could possibly be that funny?

**Harry vaulted over the locked park gate and set off across the parched grass. The park was as empty as the surrounding streets. When he reached the swings he sank on to the only one that Dudley and his friends had not yet managed to break, coiled one arm around the chain and stared moodily at the ground. He would not be able to hide in the Dursleys' flowerbed again. **

"You shouldn't have to hide in a flowerbed at all," growled Sirius. Remus glared at the book as he took it back from Tonks, now able to read again, he continued.

**Tomorrow, he would have to think of some fresh way of listening to the news. In the meantime, he had nothing to look forward to but another restless, disturbed night, because even when he escaped the nightmares about Cedric he had unsettling dreams about long dark corridors, all finishing in dead ends and locked doors, which he supposed had something to do with the trapped feeling he had when he was awake. **

Dumbledore's eyes widened, _The Department of Mysteries_ he thought. If Harry was already seeing into Voldemort's thoughts, he would have to have Severus teach Harry Occulmency sooner rather than later. Maybe he should have words with _Harry_ about the situation.

**Often the old scar on his forehead prickled uncomfortably, but he did not fool himself that Ron or Hermione or Sirius would find that very interesting any more. In the past, his scar hurting had warned that Voldemort was getting stronger again, but now that Voldemort was back they would probably remind him that its regular irritation was only to be expected . . . nothing to worry about . . . old news . . .**

"We'd want to know anyway Harry," said Hermione.

"Pfft…like he would tell us anyway, he probably wouldn't tell us if he were about to die, never mind his scar hurting," said Ron

_Harry_ shot a wide-eyed look towards _Ron_ who also looked quiet shock at what his younger self had said. "You know, it's times like these that I wonder, if you are actually part seer" _Harry _whispered dryly to _Ron_ who swallowed and nodded. Maybe there _was_ something to it.

**The injustice of it all welled up inside him so that he wanted to yell with fury. **

"Err…this next part is all...well...angst so I think it would be best if there weren't any interruptions, it'll be over quicker that way. The older people in the room nodded, not really wanting to hear about teenage angst.

**If it hadn't been for him, nobody would even have known Voldemort was back! And, his reward was to be stuck in Little Whinging for four solid weeks, completely cut off from the magical world, reduced to squatting among dying begonias so that he could hear about water-skiing budgerigars! How could Dumbledore have forgotten him so easily? Why had Ron and Hermione got together without inviting him along, too? How much longer was he supposed to endure Sirius telling him to sit tight and be a good boy; or resist the temptation to write to the stupid Daily Prophet and point out that Voldemort had returned? **

As the paragraph went on Harry was getting redder and redder. This was so embarrassing! He'd rather have to duel Voldemort himself rather than having this go on much longer.

**These curious thoughts whirled around in Harry's head, and his insides writhed with anger as a sultry, velvety night fell around him, the air full of the smell of warm, dry grass, and the only sound that of the low grumble of traffic on the road beyond the park railings. **

Snape groaned, how much longer would he have to listen to Potter's arrogant whining? So what if Dumbledore wasn't telling him things he wasn't entitled to know.

**He did not know how long he had sat on the swing before the sound of voices interrupted his musings and he looked up. The streetlamps from the surrounding roads were casting a misty glow strong enough to silhouette a group of people making their way across the park. One of them was singing a loud, crude song. The others were laughing. A soft ticking noise came from several expensive racing bikes that they were wheeling along.**

"Oh good, a distraction," smiled Tonks, she had had her fair share of teenage dramas, though not as…tragic? Was that the word? No tragic wasn't the right word but she couldn't think of another, maybe something that was inbetween 'bad' and 'tragic'…anyway, she was glad they were moving on in the story.

**Harry knew who those people were. The figure in front was unmistakeably his cousin, Dudley Dursley wending his way home, accompanied by his faithful gang.**

"Okay, it's probably not a very good distraction and will end terribly but it's probably much easier to listen too!" said Tonks, then seeing the humiliated look on Harry's face she quickly added "Sorry Harry." He mumbled something and waved her apology off.

**Dudley was as vast as ever, but a year's hard dieting and the discovery of a new talent had wrought quite a change in his physique. As Uncle Vernon delightedly told anyone who would listen, Dudley had recently become the Junior Heavyweight Inter-school Boxing Champion of the Southeast. 'The noble sport', as Uncle Vernon called it, had made Dudley even more formidable than he had seemed to Harry in their primary school days when he had served as Dudley's first punchball. **

The women in the room glared and _Ron_, Remus and Sirius growled, not that you could hear _Ron_ over Remus and Sirius but he still growled at the thought of his best friend being beaten up.

**Harry was not remotely afraid of his cousin any more but he still didn't think that Dudley earning to punch harder and more accurately was cause for celebration. **

The Twins snorted. "You think?" they asked sarcastically. Harry took a leaf out of Ron's book and did the mature thing. He stuck out his tongue.

**Neighbourhood children all around were terrified of him - even more terrified than they were of 'that Potter boy' who, they had been warned, was a hardened hooligan and attended St Brutus's secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys.**

"What!" yelled Sirius.

"How dare they" yelled Remus

Molly and Hermione and many of the others looked like they wanted to say something as well but they remembered what _Ron_ had said earlier and kept quiet. Molly couldn't put into words how proud she was of the man _Ron_ had become, how mature he was. Little did she know the cost of _Ron's_ new found maturity or what he had payed to obtain it.

**Harry watched the dark figures crossing the grass and wondered who they had been beating up tonight. Look round, Harry found himself thinking as he watched them. Come on . . . look round . . . I'm sitting here all alone . . . come and have a go . . .**

"Harry," Molly groaned was it too much to ask for him to just be safe for once in his life rather than getting into fights with Muggles? Harry grinned sheepishly as Sirius once again poked him in the ribs.

**If Dudley's friends saw him sitting here, they would be sure to make a beeline for him, and what would Dudley do then? He wouldn't want to lose face in front of the gang, but he'd be terrified of provoking Harry . . . it would be really fun to watch Dudley's dilemma, to taunt him, watch him, with him powerless to respond . . . and if any of the others tried hitting Harry, he was ready - he had his wand. Let them try . . . he'd love to vent some of his frustration on the boys who had once made his life hell.**

Snape frowned, having a sudden flash back to his school days with the Marauders, was it possible to have something in common with Potter? No, he was exaggerating, they probably just wouldn't let him join their little gang or do what he wanted to do or something stupid like that.

**But they didn't turn around, they didn't see him, they were almost at the railings. Harry mastered the impulse to call after them . . . seeking a fight was not a smart move . . . he must not use magic he would be risking expulsion again.**  
**The voices of Dudley's gang died away; they were out of sight, heading along Magnolia Road.**  
**There you go, Sirius, Harry thought dully. Nothing rash. Kept my nose clean. Exactly the opposite of what you'd have done.**

The whole room had once again burst into laughter at the reminder of the previous conversation. Sirius was once again pouting.

**He got to his feet and stretched. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon seemed to feel that whenever Dudley turned up was the right time to be home, and any time after that was much too late. Uncle Vernon had threatened to lock Harry in the shed **

"He locked you in the shed?" growled Sirius. Harry was beginning to think that agreeing to talk about it with Sirius and Remus hadn't been such a good idea after all.

**if he came home after Dudley ever again, so, stifling a yawn, and still scowling, Harry set off towards the park gate.**

**Magnolia Road, like Privet Drive, was full of large, square houses with perfectly manicured lawns, all owned by large, square owners who drove very clean cars similar to Uncle Vernon's. Harry preferred Little Whinging by night, when the curtained windows made patches of jewel-bright colour in the darkness and he ran no danger of hearing disapproving mutters about his 'delinquent' appearance when he passed the householders. He walked quickly, so that halfway along Magnolia Road Dudley's gang came into view again; they were saying their farewells at the entrance to Magnolia Crescent. Harry stepped into the shadow of a large lilac tree and waited.**

Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry as he smiled sheepishly back at her.

**'. . . squealed like a pig, didn't he?' Malcolm was saying, to guffaws from the others.**

**'Nice right hook, Big D,' said Piers.**

**'Same time tomorrow?' said Dudley.**

**'Round at my place, my parents will be out,' said Gordon.**

**'See you then,' said Dudley.**

**'Bye, Dud!'**

**'See ya, Big D!'**

**Harry waited for the rest of the gang to move on before setting off again. When their voices had faded once more he headed around the corner into Magnolia Crescent and by walking very quickly he soon came within hailing distance of Dudley, who was strolling along at his ease, humming tunelessly.**

**'Hey, Big D!'**

"Oh, this is going to be good!" exclaimed _Ron_.

"Why, Harry isn't going to do anything, he's such a sweet boy" Molly replied frowning

"Mum, that just goes to show how much you know about Harry," said _Ron_ grinning at _Harry_ who was glaring. "He can be brutal when he wants to be," he laughed. This brought a frown to the faces of many, what did he mean _brutal_? Sirius on the other hand was starting to smile widely, it seemed to him that Harry had gotten his mother's wit and his father's talent for insults, and, if he was right, _brutal_ didn't even scratch the surface.

**Dudley turned.**

**'Oh,' he grunted. 'It's you.'**

**'How long have you been "Big D" then?' said Harry.**

**'Shut it,' snarled Dudley, turning away.**

**'Cool name,' said Harry, grinning and falling into step beside is cousin. 'But you'll always be "Ickle Diddykins" to me.'**

"Ickle Diddykins? Oh Merlin that's worse than Ickle Ronniekins!" joked George as Ron glared at him.

"Yeah and don't forget Ickle Gin-Gin" said Fred, now Ginny was glaring.

**'I said, SHUT IT!' said Dudley, whose ham-like hands had curled into fists.**

**'Don't the boys know that's what your mum calls you?'**

**'Shut your face.'**

**'You don't tell her to shut her face. What about "Popkin" and "Dinky Diddydums", can I use them then?'**

"You were right _Ron_, he is brutal" laughed Tonks

**Dudley said nothing. The effort of keeping himself from hitting Harry seemed to demand all his self-control.**

Harry laughed softly and saw Ron shudder. "Don't do that Harry! It's creepy"

**'So who've you been beating up tonight?' Harry asked, his grin fading. 'Another ten-year-old? I know you did Mark Evans two nights ago -'**

Snape's eyes narrowed at the name, a movement that didn't go unnoticed by _Harry_ who pointed it out to _Ron_.

"That's going to be interesting later" he muttered.

**'He was asking for it,' snarled Dudley.**

**'Oh yeah?'**

**'He cheeked me.'**

**'Yeah? Did he say you look like a pig that's been taught to walk on its hind legs? 'Cause that's not cheek, Dud, that's true.'**

"Wow Harry-" started Fred

"You're really letting lose-" continued George

"Why aren't you this funny all the time?" finished Fred, much to the amusement of the rest of the room.

**A muscle was twitching in Dudley's jaw. It gave Harry enormous satisfaction to know how furious he was making Dudley;**

Sirius was right Harry was more than brutal, he was vindictive when he was mad at someone, just like Lily had been, particularly towards the Marauders when they had annoyed her too much.

**he felt as though he was siphoning off his own frustration into his cousin, the only outlet he had.**

"That's not very healthy Harry," sighed Arthur.

**They turned right down the narrow alleyway where Harry had first seen Sirius and which formed a short cut between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. It was empty and much darker than the streets it linked because there were no streetlamps. Their footsteps were muffled between garage walls on one side and a high fence on the other.**

**Think you're a big man carrying that thing, don't you?' Dudley said after a few seconds.**

"What thing?" Ron asked.

**'What thing?'**

Harry and Ron grinned at each other.

**That - that thing you are hiding.' Harry grinned again.**

**'Not as stupid as you look, are you, Dud? But I s'pose, if you were, you wouldn't be able to walk and talk at the same time.'**

"Brilliant, Harry! Definitely Marauder worthy," Sirius exclaimed his smile that was already covering most of his face growing wider.

"Sirius, don't encourage that kind of behaviour!" Molly hissed. Sirius's face darkened.

"If you'll excuse me Molly but as I am his godfather and you are not, I would appreciate it if you didn't tell me what I should and should not be encouraging," Sirius snapped.

**Harry pulled out his wand. He saw Dudley look sideways at it.**

**'You're not allowed,' Dudley said at once. 'I know you're not. You'd get expelled from that freak school you go to.'**

**'How d'you know they haven't changed the rules, Big D?'**

**They haven't,' said Dudley, though he didn't sound completely convinced.**

**Harry laughed softly.**

"Stop Harry, you're freaking me out!" yelled Ron smiling, as he mock-shuddered.

**'You haven't got the guts to take me on without that thing, have you?' Dudley snarled.**

**'Whereas you just need four mates behind you before you can beat up a ten year old. You know that boxing title you keep banging on about? How old was your opponent? Seven? Eight?'**

"He better not have been" growled Emmeline and Hestia.

**'He was sixteen, for your information,' snarled Dudley, 'and he was out cold for twenty minutes after I'd finished with him and he was twice as heavy as you. You just wait till I tell Dad you had that thing out -**  
**'Running to Daddy now, are you? Is his ickle boxing champ frightened of nasty Harry's wand?'**

"I am" said _Ron,_ "Especially when he is mad at me." _Harry _grinned evilly and laughed at _Ron's_ expression.

**'Not this brave at night, are you?' sneered Dudley.**

"What does he mean?" asked Arthur, but Harry who had stiffened in Sirius's arms didn't answer.

**'This is night, Diddykins. That's what we call it when it goes all dark like this.'**

"You are so sarcastic when you are angry Harry" laughed Bill. "Is he always like that?" he asked Ron and Hermione. Everyone around the room looked interested in the answer and were surprised when Ron and Hermione nodded.

**'I mean when you're in bed!' Dudley snarled.**

**He had stopped walking. Harry stopped too, staring at his cousin. ****From the little he could see of Dudley's large face, he was wearing a strangely triumphant look.**

**'What d'you mean, I'm not brave when I'm in bed?' said Harry, completely nonplussed. 'What am I supposed to be frightened of, pillows or something?'**

**'I heard you last night,' said Dudley breathlessly. Talking in your sleep. Moaning.'**

The Twins looked as though they were going to say something, but _Ron_ silenced him with a look. This wasn't a topic that either of the Harry's wanted to dwell on so it was best that they just get it over with.

**'What d'you mean?' Harry said again, but there was a cold, plunging sensation in his stomach. He had revisited the graveyard last night in his dreams.**

Harry once again became very pale; it was bad enough to have to listen to Dudley say this the first time, but now that Dudley wasn't actually here Harry could focus on exactly what his cousin had been saying. He could feel the vibrations coming from Sirius's chest as he growled quietly. Harry gave his hand a squeeze in an attempt to calm him.

**Dudley gave a harsh bark of laughter, then adopted a high-pitched whimpering voice.' "Don't kill Cedric! Don't kill Cedric!" Who's Cedric - your boyfriend?'**

**'I - you're lying,' said Harry automatically. But his mouth had gone dry. He knew Dudley wasn't lying - how else would he know about Cedric?**

**' "Dad! Help me, Dad! He's going to kill me, Dad! Boo hoo!'' '**

Sirius and Remus were both growling now and you could almost see Remus's eyes change to the golden colour of the inner werewolf as he glared at the book, how dare he talk like that!

**'Shut up,' said Harry quietly. 'Shut up, Dudley, I'm warning you!'**

'"**Come and help me, Dad! Mum, come and help me! **

"He's disgusting!" Emmeline said glaring at the book in Remus's hands

**He's killed Cedric! Dad, help me! He's going to - "Don't you point that thing at me!'**

"Hex him Harry," said Ron, an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face. Hermione looked as though she wanted to agree but instead said,

"Don't Harry you'll get into trouble."

"You know I got in trouble anyway," he said dryly. She gave him a look and he quickly added, "I didn't do anything to him though."

**Dudley backed into the alley wall. Harry was pointing the wand directly at Dudley's heart. Harry could feel fourteen years' hatred of Dudley pounding in his veins - what wouldn't he give to strike now, to jinx Dudley so thoroughly he'd have to crawl home like an insect, struck dumb, sprouting feelers . . .**

**'Don't ever talk about that again,' Harry snarled. 'D'you understand me?'**

**'Point that thing somewhere else!'**

**'I said, do you understand me?'**

**'Point it somewhere else!'**

**'DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?'**

**'GET THAT THING AWAY FROM -'**

**Dudley gave an odd, shuddering gasp, as though he had been doused in icy water.**

"The Dementors," Hermione gasped.

**Something had happened to the night. The star-strewn indigo sky was suddenly pitch black and lightless - the stars, the moon, the misty streetlamps at either end of the alley had vanished. The distant rumble of cars and the whisper of trees had gone. The balmy evening was suddenly piercingly, bitingly cold. They were surrounded by total, impenetrable, silent darkness, as though some giant hand had dropped a thick, icy mantle over the entire alleyway, blinding them.**

Sirius shuddered. He had never like Dementors, even before Azkaban. He squeezed his eyes shut against the memories, twelve years in Azkaban for something he didn't do, finding the Potter's house on Halloween night, James dead body- but before the memories could fully engulf him, he felt Harry's hand in his and Remus's on his shoulder, together they managed to bring Sirius back into the present. He opened his eyes to see nearly everyone looking at him, worried.

"I'm fine." He said his voice shaking slightly.

**For a split second Harry thought he had done magic without meaning to, despite the fact that he'd been resisting as hard as he could - then his reason caught up with his senses - he didn't have the power to turn off the stars. He turned his head this way and that, trying to see something, but the darkness pressed on his eyes like a weightless veil.**

Everyone was on the edge of their seats wanting to hear exactly how Harry had gotten out of this one.

**Dudley's terrified voice broke in Harry's ear**

**'W-what are you d-doing? St-stop it!'**

**'I'm not doing anything! Shut up and don't move!'**

**'I c-can't see! I've g-gone blind! I -'**

**'I said shut up!'**

**Harry stood stock still, turning his sightless eyes left and right. The cold was so intense he was shivering all over; goose bumps had erupted up his arms and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up - he opened his eyes to their fullest extent, staring blankly around, unseeing.**

Remus was reading faster and faster almost to the point where the others couldn't understand what he was saying. Tonks rested her hand on his in comfort. He stopped and looked at her, blushing before carrying on at a slower pace.

**It was impossible . . . they couldn't be here . . . not in Little Whinging . . . he strained his ears . . . he would hear them before he saw them . . .**

**'I'll t-tell Dad!' Dudley whimpered. 'W-where are you? What are you d-do-?'**

**'Will you shut up?' Harry hissed, 'I'm trying to lis-'**

**But he fell silent. He had heard just the thing he had been dreading.**

"Good, keep your senses open" said Moody

**There was something in the alleyway apart from themselves, something that was drawing long, hoarse, rattling breaths. Harry felt a horrible jolt of ****dread as he stood trembling in the freezing air.**

**'C-cut it out! Stop doing it! I'll h-hit you, I swear I will!'**

**'Dudley, shut -'**

**WHAM.**

"He hit you!"

"What an idiot"

"There goes his chance of survival" were just some of the responses from around the room.

**A fist made contact with the side of Harry's head, lifting him off his feet. Small white lights popped in front of his eyes. For the second time in an hour Harry felt as though his head had been cleaved in two; next moment, he had landed hard on the ground and his wand had flown out of his hand.**

"Oh god, oh god, oh god" Hermione chanted under her breath silently working herself into hysteria, that is until Ron grabbed her hand, shocking her out of the cycle.

**'You moron, Dudley!' Harry yelled, his eyes watering with pain as he scrambled to his hands and knees, feeling around frantically n the blackness. He heard Dudley blundering away, hitting the alley fence, stumbling.**

**'DUDLEY, COME BACK! YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT AT IT!'**

Everyone was worried about Dudley now, even if they didn't want to admit it. No one deserved the Kiss.

**There was a horrible squealing yell and Dudley's footsteps topped. At the same moment, Harry felt a creeping chill behind him that could mean only one thing. There was more than one.**

**'DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! Wand!' Harry muttered frantically, his hands flying over the ground like spiders. 'Where's - wand - come on - lumos!'**

"Like that will do anything Potter, wandless magic takes years to master," Snape sneered.

**He said the spell automatically, desperate for light to help him in his search - and to his disbelieving relief, light flared inches from his right hand - the wand tip had ignited. **

Harry sent a smug smile to Snape and said "I'll take that as a complement." Much to the delight to the Twins, Ron and Sirius, Snape turned the slightest shade of pink.

"You should work on that Potter, it'll come in handy at Auror training," said Moody. Harry looked at his older self who nodded in agreement with Moody.

"Remus can teach you, he's quite good at wandless and non-verbal magic" said Sirius.

"You are pretty good at it yourself Padfoot," replied Remus.

**Harry snatched it up, scrambled to his feet and turned around. ****His stomach turned over. ****A towering, hooded figure was gliding smoothly towards him, hovering over the ground, no feet or face visible beneath its robes, sucking on the night as it came.**  
**Stumbling backwards, Harry raised his wand.**

**'Expecto patronum!'**

"Thank Merlin for Moony!" exclaimed Sirius and Remus for what felt like the hundredth time, blushed.

**A silvery wisp of vapour shot from the tip of the wand and the Dementor slowed, but the spell hadn't worked properly; tripping over his own feet, Harry retreated further as the Dementor bore down upon him, panic fogging his brain - concentrate –**

The whole room seemed to pale, why wasn't it working?

**A pair of grey, slimy, scabbed hands slid from inside the Dementor's robes, reaching for him. A rushing noise filled Harry's ears.**

**'Expecto patronum!'**

**His voice sounded dim and distant. Another wisp of silver smoke, feebler than the last, drifted from the wand - he couldn't do it any more, he couldn't work the spell.**

Hermione, Ginny, Emmeline, Molly and Hestia all had tears in their eyes at this point.

**There was laughter inside his own head, shrill, high-pitched laughter . . . he could smell the Dementor's putrid, death-cold breath filling his own lungs, drowning him - think . . . something happy . . .**  
**But there was no happiness in him**

Some of the people in the room looked at Harry confused. "Well let's see you cast a patronus if you've just seen a friend die, been left on your own all summer and were slightly depressed from said being left alone." said Harry, getting angry at the guilty looks around the room. "Don't tell me you all thought I'd be fine by myself after something like that, not when I needed someone to talk to about it and I don't mean through letters!" Harry yelled, were they stupid? Sirius had tried to talk to him about it through his letters but it wasn't the same as talking in person, which he had had to wait a month for, for some god forsaken reason, and now he had to relive it.

Sirius, sensing the boy's distress pulled him into another hug; it seemed that talk he had promised Harry a month ago was needed sooner rather than later. Remus sent a meaningful look to Sirius who nodded, and with that Remus continued.

**. . . the Dementor's icy fingers were closing on his throat - the high-patched laughter was growing louder and louder, and a voice spoke inside his head: 'Bow to death, Harry . . . it might even be painless . . . I would not know . . . I have never died'**

Harry shuddered violently as he cried silently into Sirius's shirt. He didn't care that everyone was probably looking at him, he just held Sirius tighter and tried to listen to the story, rather than dwelling on unhappy memories.

**He was never going to see Ron and Hermione again - ****And their faces burst clearly into his mind as he fought for breath.**

**'EXPECTO PATRONUM!'**

Ron and Hermione gasped. "Y-you th-thought of us?" Hermione whispered through tears. She was still holding Ron's hand and as she said this felt him squeeze tighter, which she was grateful for.

Harry looked up at his best friends, avoiding everyone else's gaze; he nodded before burying his head into Sirius's robes.

**An enormous silver stag erupted from the tip of Harry's wand; it's antlers caught the Dementor in the place where the heart should have been; it was thrown backwards, weightless as darkness, and as the stag charged, the Dementor swooped away, bat-like and defeated.**

The Twins cheered, trying, and failing to lighten up the room.

**'THIS WAY!' Harry shouted at the stag. Wheeling around, he sprinted down the alleyway, holding the lit wand aloft. 'DUDLEY? DUDLEY!'**  
**He had run barely a dozen steps when he reached them: Dudley was curled up on the ground, his arms clamped over his face. A second Dementor was crouching low over him, gripping his wrists in its slimy hands, prising them slowly, almost lovingly apart, lowering its hooded head towards Dudley's face as though about to kiss him.**

Emmeline gasped in horror, as much as she hated the boy she didn't want him to get Kissed, she hoped like crazy Harry would make it in time. She was so caught up in the book she had forgotten that this had already happened and she knew that the Dursley boy was fine. Emmeline felt a sudden pressure on her hand and looked down to see that Sirius (who she was sitting next to) was holding her hand. She blushed when she looked at him seeing the kind smile on his still handsome, if somewhat rugged face. Still blushing she squeezed his hand back taking comfort from the pressure.

**'GET IT!' Harry bellowed, and with a rushing, roaring sound, the silver stag he had conjured came galloping past him. The Dementor's eyeless face was barely an inch from Dudley's when the silver antlers caught it; the thing was thrown up into the air and, like its fellow, it soared away and was absorbed into the darkness; the stag cantered to the end of the alleyway and dissolved into silver mist.**

Now the room did cheer. The Dementors were gone and Harry was safe, they couldn't have been happier.

**Moon, stars and streetlamps burst back into life. A warm breeze swept the alleyway. Trees rustled in neighbouring gardens and the mundane rumble of cars in Magnolia Crescent filled the air again.**

_Harry_ inwardly laughed, only Little Whinging could be described as mundane directly after a Dementor attack.

**Harry stood quite still, all his senses vibrating, taking in the abrupt return to normality. After a moment, he became aware that his T-shirt was sticking to him; he was drenched in sweat. He could not believe what had just happened. **

"Neither could we when it happened, we were just as shocked as you," Arthur told Harry and Molly nodded.

**Dementors here, in Little Whinging. Dudley lay curled up on the ground, whimpering and shaking. Harry bent down to see whether he was in a fit state to stand up, but then he heard loud, running footsteps behind him. Instinctively raising his wand again, he span on his heel to face the newcomer.**

"That is, surprisingly, what shocked me the most," said Harry, his voice thick from crying. Ron and Hermione chuckled shakily at his comment, glad that he was feeling better.

**Mrs Figg, their batty old neighbour, came panting into sight. Her grizzled grey hair was escaping from its hairnet, a clanking String shopping bag was swinging from her wrist and her feet were halfway out of her tartan carpet slippers. Harry made to stow his wand hurriedly out of sight, but -**

**'Don't put it away, idiot boy!' she shrieked. 'What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to kill Mundungus Fletcher!'**

"She wasn't the only one," Sirius growled. He had tried to rip Dung's head off when he found out, not that he would have been much help, but Harry wouldn't have gotten into as much trouble as he did.

"That's the end of the chapter," said Remus quietly. The room seemed to be stunned into silence; no one was really sure what to think. Kingsley, who hadn't said much since they had started, had to marvel at the strength and level headedness that Harry possessed. After all how teenagers could take on two Dementors and remain calm nearly the entire time?

"Who wants to read next?" asked Remus holding the book up in the air. Hermione looked around, and when nobody else volunteered, she raised her hand and took the book from Remus.


	5. A Peck of Owls

A Peck of Owls

"Okay, this chapter is called '**A Peck of Owls**'" she said clearing her throat. Harry groaned, he thought the last chapter was bad, now the entire room was going to hear about his uncle trying to kick him out.

"Joy" Harry grumbled. Molly shot him a worried look, what happened to the poor boy now? She wanted to go over there and give him a hug, but Sirius already had it covered. She may not agree with Sirius on a lot of things, but there was something in the way that Harry seemed to open up to him. He told Sirius things that he would never tell anybody else and while Sirius still had a long way to go before she deemed him fully capable of being a responsible guardian for Harry, she supposed that he was well on his way, and she would do her best to help him.

**'What?' said Harry blankly.**

**'He left!' said Mrs Figg, wringing her hands. 'Left to see someone about a batch of cauldrons that fell off the back of a broom! I told him I'd flay him alive if he went, and now look! Dementors! It's just lucky I put Mr Tibbles on the case!**

"Mr Tibbles?" asked Fred raising an eyebrow.

**But we haven't got time to stand around! Hurry, now, we've got to get you back! Oh, the trouble this is going to cause! I will kill him!'**

Bill chuckled at the memory of what Sirius, as well as his mother, had done to Mundungus when they had found out he had left Harry. Bill didn't think that he would have ever seen them get along, but boy, did they gang up on 'Dung, of course 'Dung probably considered himself lucky that Remus had been on a mission at the time, otherwise he would have had an angry werewolf on his hands as well.

**'But - ' The revelation that his batty old cat-obsessed neighbour knew what Dementors were was almost as big a shock to Harry as meeting two of them down the alleyway. 'You're - you're a witch?'**

"She's a squib Harry" said Arthur, reassuring the young man.

"I know that now Mr Weasley," smiled Harry.

**'I'm a Squib, as Mundungus knows full well, so how on earth was I supposed to help you fight off Dementors? He left you completely without cover when I'd warned him- '**

**This Mundungus has been following me? Hang on - it was him! He Disapparated from the front of my house!'**

"Blimey _Harry_, point out the obvious why don't you," laughed _Ron._

"Like you can talk, how many years did it take for you to work out your girlfriend really _was_ in love with you?" _Harry_ teased as _Ron_ turned red. Younger Harry and Ron were also looking at each other, Harry smiling and Ron a nice shade of Weasley red.

"Ron has a girlfriend?" exclaimed Ginny as if the idea of Ron having a girlfriend were impossible, her eyes darted to Hermione who looked rather confused, then back to the older versions of her brother and Harry who nodded.

**'Yes, yes, yes, but luckily I'd stationed Mr Tibbles under a car just in case, and Mr Tibbles came and warned me,**

"Wait, I thought Mr Tibbles was a cat?" asked Dedalus, speaking for the first time. Harry who had actually forgotten he was in the room jumped at the sudden new voice. He leaned forward in his place between Sirius and Remus to look at the man,

"Yeah, he's a cat," he said chuckling at the disbelieving look on Dedalus's face.

"But then how could it warn her?"

"I honestly don't know, Sirius might, he talks to Crookshanks, but he could just be crazy" replied Harry stage whispering the last part. Sirius blinked, when had Harry seen him talking to Crookshanks? At the confused look on his godfathers face (as well as her rest of the room, bar _Harry, Ron_ and Ron who vaguely remembered Harry mentioning it) he continued, "Your just not as sneaky as you think you are," apparently Sirius still had no clue what Harry meant so he added "Third year, I saw you talking to Crookshanks as Padfoot."

"Oh, well, he could be part kneezle, like Crookshanks, but it's more body language than anything," Sirius told Dedalus, who nodded and turned his attention back to Hermione.

**but by the time I got to your house you'd gone - and now - oh, what's Dumbledore going to say? You!' she shrieked at Dudley, still supine on the alley floor. 'Get your fat bottom off the ground, quick!'**

"I knew I liked her" said Sirius

**'You know Dumbledore?' said Harry, staring at her.**

**'Of course I know Dumbledore, who doesn't know Dumbledore? But come on - I'll be no help if they come back, I've never so much as Transfigured a teabag.'**

"I can't say I've ever transfigured a teabag either," said Remus.

**She stooped down, seized one of Dudley's massive arms in her wizened hands and tugged.**

**'Get up, you useless lump, get up!'**

**But Dudley either could not or would not move. He remained on the ground, trembling and ashen-faced, his mouth shut very tight.**

**'I'll do it.' Harry took hold of Dudley's arm and heaved. With an enormous effort he managed to hoist him to his feet. **

**Dudley seemed to be on the point of fainting. His small eyes were rolling in their sockets and sweat was beading his face; the moment Harry let go of him he swayed dangerously.**

**'Hurry up!' said Mrs Figg hysterically.**

"She really shouldn't be rushing you, lifting that lump of a boy can't be good for your back," Molly fretted.

"The Dementors could come back though," said Sirius frowning. While Sirius didn't want Harry to hurt himself, there was still a chance that the Dementors could've come back. Molly nodded, clearly torn between arguing and agreeing with Sirius._ Harry_ sighed, he knew that Sirius and Molly had never -and probably will never- see eye to eye, but this was getting ridiculous. He turned to _Ron_ and whispered,

"If things get any worse between them, I'm going to have to do something,"

"Good luck with that," _Ron _smirked.

**Harry pulled one of Dudley's massive arms around his own shoulders and dragged him towards the road, sagging slightly under the weight. Mrs Figg tottered along in front of them, peering anxiously around the corner.**

**'Keep your wand out,' she told Harry, as they entered Wisteria Walk. 'Never mind the Statute of Secrecy now, there's going to be hell to pay anyway, we might as well be hanged for a dragon as an egg. Talk about the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery . . . this was exactly what Dumbledore was afraid of - What's that at the end of the street? Oh, it's just Mr Prentice **

"That's a cat right, and not a person," asked Tonks. Harry nodded, Tonks whistled, "That's a lot of cats."

"She reminds me of the crazy cat lady on the Simpsons," joked _Ron_. His younger self looked at him confused at the reference, Hermione however, was staring at him, her mouth hanging open in awe,

"It's an American Muggle television show," she told Ron absently before turning to his counter-part, "but how do you know about it?" she asked.

"Are you kidding, I love that show!" _Ron _replied enthusiastically.

"He discovered it when he was in Australia," explained _Harry_ but before she could ask further questions, such as why _Ron_ had been in Australia, _Harry_ told her to continue reading.

**. . . don't put your wand away, boy, don't I keep telling you I'm no use?'**  
**It was not easy to hold a wand steady and haul Dudley along at the same time. Harry gave his cousin an impatient dig in the ribs, but Dudley seemed to have lost all desire for independent movement. He was slumped on Harry's shoulder, his large feet dragging along the ground.**

**'Why didn't you tell me you're a Squib, Mrs Figg?' asked Harry, panting with the effort to keep walking. 'All those times I came round your house - why didn't you say anything?'**

"I'm sorry Harry, but I didn't think the Dursley's would let you go back if you liked it there," said Dumbledore gravely.

"You mean you knew!" yelled a livid Sirius.

"How dare you leave him there," yelled Molly.

"Sirius, Molly, we will discuss this later," said Dumbledore soothingly, not that it worked all that well, if Sirius and Molly ganged up on him, well then he would be in trouble. Harry on the other hand was starting to choke up, was this what it was like to have people actually care about him? He knew they did care about him but, well, it was nice to see and hear it.

**'Dumbledore's orders. I was to keep an eye on you but not say anything, you were too young. I'm sorry I gave you such a miserable time, Harry, but the Dursleys would never have let you come if they'd thought you enjoyed it. It wasn't easy, you know . . . but oh my word,' she said tragically, **

Sirius growled and glared at the Headmaster, Molly herself, Harry thought, was doing quite a good impression of a Saber-Tooth Tiger the way she was glaring at Dumbledore.

**wringing her hands once more, 'when Dumbledore hears about this - how could Mundungus have left, he was supposed to be on duty until midnight - where is he? How am I going to tell Dumbledore what's happened? I can't Apparate.'**

**'I've got an owl, you can borrow her.' Harry groaned, wondering whether his spine was going to snap under Dudley's weight.**

"With the size you are-" began Fred

"You're lucky you didn't-" said George

"Snap like a twig," fished Fred, both of them smiling innocently at Harry, who was glaring at them.

**'Harry, you don't understand! Dumbledore will need to act as quickly as possible, the Ministry have their own ways of detecting underage magic, they'll know already, you mark my words.'**

"Of course" muttered Harry as Remus, who had heard Harry squeezed his shoulder in comfort.

**'But I was getting rid of Dementors, I had to use magic - they're going to be more worried about what Dementors were doing floating around Wisteria Walk, surely?'**

**'Oh, my dear, I wish it were so, but I'm afraid - MUNDUNGUS FLETCHER, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!'**

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" chanted the Twins, they liked 'Dung, he was good at getting what they needed for their joke shop, but leaving Harry, well, you heard what they were chanting.

**There was a loud crack and a strong smell of drink mingled with stale tobacco filled the air **

"Speak of the devil," muttered Hermione, glaring at the book.

**as a squat, unshaven man in a tattered overcoat materialised right in front of them. He had short, bandy legs, long straggly ginger hair and bloodshot, baggy eyes that gave him the doleful look of a basset hound. **

The room was briefly lightened as they laughed at Harry's description of Mundungus, then the gloom of the current sitiuation Harry was in settled back in the room as they continued to read.

**He was also clutching a silvery bundle that Harry recognised at once as an Invisibility Cloak.**

**' 'S'up, Figgy?' he said, staring from Mrs Figg to Harry and Dudley. 'What 'appened to staying undercover?'**

**'I'll give you undercover!' cried Mrs Figg. 'Dementors, you useless, skiving sneak thief!'**

**'Dementors?' repeated Mundungus, aghast. 'Dementors, 'ere?'**

**'Yes, here, you worthless pile of bat droppings, here!' shrieked Mrs Figg. 'Dementors attacking the boy on your watch!'**

"He has a name!" growled Sirius, Harry smiled at him and he seemed to calm down a fraction.

**'Blimey,' said Mundungus weakly, looking from Mrs Figg to Harry, and back again.**

**'Blimey, I - '**

**'And you off buying stolen cauldrons! Didn't I tell you not to go? Didn't I?'**

**'I - well, I -' Mundungus looked deeply uncomfortable. 'It - it was a very good business opportunity see - '**

**Mrs Figg raised the arm from which her string bag dangled and whacked Mundungus around the lace and neck with it; judging by the clanking noise it made it was full of cat food.**

"Ohh, that's going to hurt," said Tonks an evil smirk on her face.

"You know some days I worry about you," whispered Remus, making her smile wider.

**'Ouch - gerroff - gerroff, you mad old bat! Someone's gotta tell Dumbledore!'**

At the whole room was chuckling. "Just wait it get better" said Harry in between laughs

**'Yes - they - have!' yelled Mrs Figg, swinging the bag of cat food at every bit of Mundungus she could reach. 'And - it - had - better - be - you - and - you - can - tell - him - why - you - weren't - there - to - help!'**

By this point the Twins were on the floor they were laughing so hard, Sirius, Emmeline, Tonks and Remus had tears of mirth running down their faces and Molly, inbetween her own laughs, thought that at least someone else got to smack some sense into him.

**'Keep your 'airnet on!' said Mundungus, his arms over his head, cowering. 'I'm going, I'm going!'**

**And with another loud crack, he vanished.**

**'I hope Dumbledore murders him!' said Mrs Figg furiously. 'Now come on, Harry, what are you waiting for?'**

**Harry decided not to waste his remaining breath on pointing out that he could barely walk under Dudley's bulk. He gave the semi-conscious Dudley a heave and staggered onwards.**

**'I'll take you to the door,' said Mrs Figg, as they turned into Privet Drive. 'Just in case there are more of them around . . . oh my word, what a catastrophe . . . and you had to fight them off yourself . . . and Dumbledore said we were to keep you from doing magic at all costs . . . well, it's no good crying over spilt potion, I suppose . . . but the cat's among the pixies now.'**

"What does that even mean?" remarked Harry, he hadn't really had time to dwell on it at the time, but now it was just confusing.

"I think it's the alternative to 'there's no use crying over spilt milk' and maybe 'the cat's out of the bag?" guessed Hermione.

"Why would you put a cat in a bag?" asked Arthur. Hermione was about to answer, when Molly cut her off,

"Now is not the time Arthur," she said her brow furrowed in agitation at what was happening in the book.

**'So,' Harry panted, 'Dumbledore's . . . been having . . . me followed?'**

"I didn't appreciate that by the way," _Harry_ said pleasantly, but Dumbledore could sense the underlying annoyance, yes he would have to have a talk with _Harry_ about this later.

**'Of course he has,' said Mrs Figg impatiently. 'Did you expect him to let you wander around on your own after what happened in June? Good Lord, boy, they told me you were intelligent . . . right . . . get inside and stay there,' she said, as they reached number four. 'I expect someone will be in touch with you soon enough.'**

**'What are you going to do?' asked Harry quickly.**

**'I'm going straight home,' said Mrs Figg, staring around the dark street and shuddering. 'I'll need to wait for more instructions. Just stay in the house. Goodnight.'**

**'Hang on, don't go yet! I want to know - '**

Harry sighed, these books better give him some answers or they were going to be more trouble than they were worth.

**But Mrs Figg had already set off at a trot, carpet slippers flopping, string bag clanking.**

**'Wait!' Harry shouted after her. He had a million questions to ask anyone who was in contact with Dumbledore; but within seconds Mrs Figg was swallowed by the darkness. Scowling, Harry readjusted Dudley on his shoulder and made his slow, painful way up number four's garden path.**

**The hall light was on. Harry stuck his wand back inside the waistband of his jeans, rang the bell and watched Aunt Petunia's outline grow larger and larger, oddly distorted by the rippling glass in the front door.**

**'Diddy! About time too, I was getting quite - quite - Diddy, what's the matter?'**  
**Harry looked sideways at Dudley and ducked out from under his arm just in time. Dudley swayed on the spot for a moment, his face pale green . . . then he opened his mouth and vomited all over the doormat.**

Sirius shivered, he couldn't count the number of times he had thrown up in the first couple of years he had been in Azkaban. He felt Emmeline squeezed his hand in support. Sirius had forgotten he had been holding her hand and found that it was quite a nice feeling.

**'DIDDY! Diddy, what's the matter with you? Vernon? VERNON!'**  
**Harry's uncle came galumphing out of the living room, walrus moustache blowing hither and thither as it always did when he was agitated. He hurried forwards to help Aunt Petunia negotiate a weak-kneed Dudley over the threshold while avoiding stepping in the pool of sick.**

**'He's ill, Vernon!'**

**'What is it, son? What's happened? Did Mrs Polkiss give you something foreign for tea?'**

"Yes 'cause being near a Dementor is exactly like eating bad foreign food," mumbled Bill.

**'Why are you all covered in dirt, darling? Have you been lying on the ground?'**

**'Hang on - you haven't been mugged, have you, son?'**

**Aunt Petunia screamed.**

"She's very dramatic, your aunt, Harry," laughed Tonks.

**'Phone the police, Vernon! Phone the police! Diddy, darling, speak to Mummy! What did they do to you?'**

**In all the kerfuffle nobody seemed to have noticed Harry, which suited him perfectly. He managed to slip inside just before Uncle Vernon slammed the door and, while the Dursleys made their noisy progress down the hall towards the kitchen, Harry moved carefully and quietly towards the stairs.**

"You're not that sneaky, Harry," sighed Ron

"He gets better," _Ron_ said brightly.

"Don't you talk _Ron_, you used to be as sneaky as a herd of elephants," glared _Harry _at _Ron _who grinned.

**'Who did it, son? Give us names. We'll get them, don't worry.'**

**'Shh! He's trying to say something, Vernon! What is it, Diddy? Tell Mummy!'**

**Harry's foot was on the bottom-most stair when Dudley found his voice.**

**'Him.'**

**Harry froze, foot on the stair, face screwed up, braced for the explosion.**

**'BOY! COME HERE!'**

"He has a name!" Sirius almost yelled, he was getting annoyed with people calling Harry 'boy'.

"Calm down Padfoot," Harry whispered. Sirius closed his eyes and nodded.

**With a feeling of mingled dread and anger, Harry removed his foot slowly from the stair and turned to follow the Dursleys.**

**The scrupulously clean kitchen had an oddly unreal glitter after the darkness outside. Aunt Petunia was ushering Dudley into a chair; he was still very green and clammy-looking. Uncle Vernon was standing in front of the draining board, glaring at Harry through tiny, narrowed eyes.**

**'What have you done to my son?' he said in a menacing growl.**

"He didn't do anything" defended Emmeline outrage clear on her face.

**'Nothing,' said Harry, knowing perfectly well that Uncle Vernon wouldn't believe him.**

**'What did he do to you. Diddy?' Aunt Petunia said in a quavering voice, now sponging sick from the front of Dudley's leather jacket. 'Was it - was it you-know-what, darling? Did he use - his thing?'**

"Yeah Harry, did you use your thing?" sniggered Ron

"Shut up! At least I didn't break mine!" Harry hissed as Hermione and Ginny giggled and the Twins full out laughed as Ron blushed.

**Slowly, tremulously, Dudley nodded.**

**'I didn't!' Harry said sharply, as Aunt Petunia let out a wail and Uncle Vernon raised his fists. 'I didn't do anything to him, it wasn't me, it was - '**

**But at that precise moment a screech owl swooped in through the kitchen window. Narrowly missing the top of Uncle Vernon's head,**

"Too bad," muttered Bill, his mother glared at him and he was silent, though he did continue to mutter obscenities under his breath.

**it soared across the kitchen, dropped the large parchment envelope it was carrying in its beak at Harry's feet, turned gracefully, the tips of its wings just brushing the top of the fridge, then zoomed outside again and off across the garden.**

**'OWLS!' bellowed Uncle Vernon, the well-worn vein in his temple pulsing angrily as he slammed the kitchen window shut. 'OWLS AGAIN! I WILL NOT HAVE ANY MORE OWLS IN MY HOUSE!'**

"Does he not like owls?" asked George innocently, the beginnings of a prank coming to his mind.

**But Harry was already ripping open the envelope and pulling out the letter inside, his heart pounding somewhere in the region of his Adam's apple.**

_**Dear Mr Potter,**_

_**We have received intelligence that you performed the Patronus Charm at twenty-three minutes past nine this evening in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of a Muggle.**_

_**The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand.**_  
_**As you have already received an official warning for a previous offence under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy, we regret to inform you that your presence is required at a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 a.m. on the twelfth of August.**_

_**Hoping you are well,**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Mafalda Hopkirk**_

"Oh my Merlin!" yelled _Ron_ staring at _Harry_ who's face held the same expression of shock.

"What?" asked Hermione, feeling strangely left out. _Ron_ just shook his head still blown away that _Harry_ had been sent this letter by the woman, who in two years Hermione would be impersonating. Harry having similar thoughts shook his head and said,

"You'll find out later." Hermione huffed and started reading again.

_**Improper Use of Magic Office**_

_**Ministry of Magic**_

**Harry read the letter through twice. He was only vaguely aware of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia talking. Inside his head, all was icy and numb. One fact had penetrated his consciousness like a paralysing dart. He was expelled from Hogwarts. It was all over. He was never going back.**

"That is one of the worst feelings I've ever had," said Harry.

**He looked up at the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon was purple-faced, shouting, his fists still raised; Aunt Petunia had her arms around Dudley who was retching again.**  
**Harry's temporarily stupefied brain seemed to reawaken. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand. There was only one thing for it. He would have to run - now.**

"Don't be stupid, Potter, you'd be a sitting duck out there by yourself," growled Moody.

Harry flushed and nodded, "I panicked," he mumbled. Snape rolled his eyes,

"You're no good to us dead Potter," he sneered.

"Aw, I didn't know you cared," laughed _Harry_, shocking the entire room bar _Ron_ -and probably Dumbledore- who snickered at the look on Snape and Harry's faces.

**Where he was going to go, Harry didn't know but he was certain of one thing: at Hogwarts or outside it, he needed his wand. In an almost dreamlike state, he pulled his wand out and turned to leave the kitchen.**

**'Where d'you think you're going?' yelled Uncle Venon. When Harry didn't reply, he pounded across the kitchen to block the doorway into the hall. 'I haven't finished with you, boy!'**

**'Get out of the way,' said Harry quietly.**

**'You're going to stay here and explain how my son - '**

**'If you don't get out of the way I'm going to jinx you,' said Harry, raising the wand.**

**'You can't pull that one on me!' snarled Uncle Vernon. 'I know**

**'You're not allowed to use it outside that madhouse you call a school!'**

"Hogwarts isn't a madhouse!" cried Hermione.

Harry and Ron gave her a disbelieving look before Ron said, "Hermione, I don't know which Hogwarts you've been going to for the past four years, but bloody hell, of course Hogwarts is a madhouse! Or are you forgetting all the mental stuff that goes on there."

"Ronald Weasley, you watch your language!" scolded Molly.

**The madhouse has chucked me out,' said Harry. 'So I can do whatever I like. You've got three seconds. One - two - '**

**A resounding CRACK filled the kitchen. Aunt Petunia screamed, Uncle Vernon yelled and ducked, but for the third time that night Harry was searching for the source of a disturbance he had not made. He spotted it at once: a dazed and ruffled-looking barn owl was sitting outside on the kitchen sill, having just collided with the closed window.**

"Errol," sighed Molly, they really needed to get a new owl.

"Is he still around in your time?" Arthur asked _Ron_.

"He is, but he's retired and he kind of just sits there, but he hoots if you poke him," he replied.

**Ignoring Uncle Vernon's anguished yell of 'OWLS!' Harry crossed the room at a run and wrenched the window open. The owl stuck out its leg, to which a small roll of parchment was tied, shook its feathers, and took off the moment Harry had taken the letter. Hands shaking, Harry unfurled the second message, which was written very hastily and blotchily in black ink.**

"Well I didn't exactly have a lot of time," laughed Arthur.

_**Harry –**_

_**Dumbledore's just arrived at the Ministry and he's trying to sort it all out. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR AUNT AND UNCLE'S HOUSE. DO NOT DO ANY MORE MAGIC. DO NOT SURRENDER YOUR WAND.**_

_**Arthur Weasley**_

"Thanks for that by the way," said Harry smiling at Arthur.

"No problem."

**Dumbledore was trying to sort it all out . . . what did that mean? how much power did Dumbledore have to override the Ministry of Magic? **

"Unfortunately not all that much," said Dumbledore, which, he thought, was decadently a good thing, too much power was not good for him.

**Was there a chance that he might be allowed back to Hogwarts, then? A small shoot of hope burgeoned in Harry's chest, almost immediately strangled by panic - how was he supposed to refuse to surrender his wand without doing magic? He'd have to duel with the Ministry representatives,**

"Don't be stupid Potter," jeered Snape, _idiot boy_.

**and if he did that, he'd be lucky to escape Azkaban, let alone expulsion.**

"There is no way they would have put you in Azkaban Harry," said Arthur kindly, Harry on the other hand, didn't look so sure.

**His mind was racing . . . he could run for it and risk being captured by the Ministry, or stay put and wait for them to find him here. He was much more tempted by the former course, but he knew Mr Weasley had his best interests at heart . . . and after all, Dumbledore had sorted out much worse than this before.**

"That is true," reasoned Remus

**'Right,' Harry said, 'I've changed my mind, I'm staying.'**

George rolled his eyes "Make up your mind Harry." Fred nodded along with him.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to confuse them or anything," he laughed.

**He flung himself down at the kitchen table and faced Dudley and Aunt Petunia. The Dursleys appeared taken aback at his abrupt change of mind. Aunt Petunia glanced despairingly at Uncle Vernon. The vein in his purple temple was throbbing worse than ever.**

**'Who are all these ruddy owls from?' he growled.**

**'The first one was from the Ministry of Magic, expelling me,' said Harry calmly. He was straining his ears to catch any noises outside, in case the Ministry representatives were approaching, and it was easier and quieter to answer Uncle Vernon's questions than to have him start raging and bellowing. The second one was from my friend Ron's dad, who works at the Ministry.'**

"He doesn't like me very much for some reason," said Arthur smiling as Harry, Ron and the Twins laughed.

**'Ministry of Magic?' bellowed Uncle Vernon. 'People like you in government? Oh, this explains everything, everything, no wonder the country's going to the dogs.'**

"Don't blame your politics on us you dirty, rott-" yelled Bill

"William Weasley, I will not tolerate that language!" said Molly cutting him off.

**When Harry did not respond, Uncle Vernon glared at him, then spat out, 'And why have you been expelled?'**

"Actually, with all of the things we have done and gotten away with, I'm actually pretty surprised that we haven't been expelled yet," said Hermione.

"Yet," added Harry, who was still facing the challenge of not being expelled in a few days' time.

**'Because I did magic.'**

**'AHA!' roared Uncle Vernon, slamming his fist down on top of the fridge, which sprang open; several of Dudley's low-fat snacks toppled out and burst on the floor.**

**'So you admit it! What did you do to Dudley?'**

**'Nothing,' said Harry, slightly less calmly. That wasn't me - '**

**'Was,' muttered Dudley unexpectedly, and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia instantly made flapping gestures at Harry to quieten him while they both bent low over Dudley.**

**'Go on, son,' said Uncle Vernon, 'what did he do?'**

**Tell us, darling,' whispered Aunt Petunia.**

**'Pointed his wand at me,' Dudley mumbled.**

**'Yeah, I did, but I didn't use - ' Harry began angrily, but - '**

**'SHUT UP!' roared Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia in unison.**

The room was silent, as the occupants cursed the Dursley's under their breaths.

**'Go on, son,' repeated Uncle Vernon, moustache blowing about furiously.**

**'All went dark,' Dudley said hoarsely, shuddering 'Everything dark. And then I h-heard . . . things. Inside m-my head.'**

For the second time in days Harry wondered what Dudley of all people had heard. His victims?

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia exchanged looks of utter horror. If their least favourite thing in the world was magic - closely followed by neighbours who cheated more than they did on the hosepipe ban - people who heard voices were definitely in the bottom ten. They obviously thought Dudley was losing his mind.**

**'What sort of things did you hear, Popkin?' breathed Aunt Petunia, very white-faced and with tears in her eyes.**

_Any mother would_ thought Molly, she might not like Petunia Dursley, hate her even, for what she had done to Harry but she knew the feeling of seeing her children sick and/or injured and it was not a nice feeling.

**But Dudley seemed incapable of saying. He shuddered again and shook his large blond head, and despite the sense of numb dread that had settled on Harry since the arrival of the first owl, he felt a certain curiosity. Dementors caused a person to relive the worst moments of their life. What would spoiled, pampered, bullying Dudley have been forced to hear?**

"Do you know?" Harry asked his future self.

"I've never asked, and he's never brought it up, not that I talk to him all that much," _Harry_ replied.

**'How come you fell over, son?' said Uncle Vernon, in an unnaturally quiet voice, the kind of voice he might adopt at the Bedside of a very ill person.**

**'T-tripped,' said Dudley shakily. 'And then - '**  
**He gestured at his massive chest. Harry understood. Dudley was remembering the clammy cold that filled the lungs as hope and happiness were sucked out of you.**

**'Horrible,' croaked Dudley. 'Cold. Really cold.'**

**'OK,' said Uncle Vernon, in a voice of forced calm, while Aunt Petunia laid an anxious hand on Dudley's forehead to feel his temperature. 'What happened then, Dudders?'**

**'Felt . . . felt . . . felt . . . as if . . . as if . . .'**

**'As if you'd never be happy again,' Harry supplied dully.**

**'Yes,' Dudley whispered, still trembling.**

**'So!' said Uncle Vernon, voice restored to full and considerable volume as he straightened up. 'You put some crackpot spell on my son so he'd hear voices and believe he was - was doomed to misery, or something, did you?'**

"Doomed to misery? That's a little melodramatic isn't it?" asked Ginny.

"Not if you've been around Dementors it isn't," replied Sirius, a haunted smile on his rugged face. Ginny winced and apologised, but he waved her off.

**'How many times do I have to tell you?' said Harry, temper and voice both rising. 'It wasn't me! It was a couple of Dementors!'**

**'A couple of - what's this codswallop?'**

**'De - men - tors,' said Harry slowly and clearly. Two of them.'**

"Say it with me! De-men-tors," said Hermione slowly, like she was talking to a two year old.

**'And what the ruddy hell are Dementors?'**

**'They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban,' said Aunt Petunia.**

"How does she know?" asked Hestia, she had been quietly listening to the story, but this had made her speak up, how could someone like Petunia Dursley know about Dementors?

**Two seconds of ringing silence followed these words before Aunt Petunia clapped her hand over her mouth as though she had let slip a disgusting swear word. Uncle Vernon was goggling at her. Harry's brain reeled. Mrs Figg was one thing - but Aunt Petunia?**

Hestia smiled at having the same thoughts as Harry, it was strange.

**'How d'you know that?' he asked her, astonished.**

**Aunt Petunia looked quite appalled with herself. She glanced at Uncle Vernon in fearful apology, then lowered her hand slightly to reveal her horsy teeth.**

**'I heard - that awful boy - telling her about them - years ago,' she said jerkily.**

**'If you mean my mum and dad, why don't you use their names?' said Harry loudly but **

"She didn't mean dad," _Harry _said quietly trying not to look at Snape, who's eye were wide, _how does he know that_? he thought furiously to himself, missing what happened next, but not really caring as Hermione read on.

**Aunt Petunia ignored him. She seemed horribly flustered.**  
**Harry was stunned. Except for one outburst years ago, in the course of which Aunt Petunia had screamed that Harry's mother had been a freak, **

Snape, along with Sirius and Remus growled, not that anyone besides _Harry_ noticed.

**he had never heard her mention her sister. He was astounded that she had remembered this scrap of information about the magical world for so long, when she usually put all her energies, into pretending it didn't exist.**

**Uncle Vernon opened his mouth, closed it again, opened it once more, shut it, then, apparently struggling to remember how to talk, opened it for a third time and croaked,**

**'So - so - they - er - they - er - they actually exist, do they - er - Dementy-whatsits?'**

"Say it with me! De-men-tors," said Ginny rolling her eyes, how could anyone be so stupid?

"Don't bother Ginny, it isn't going to happen," said Hermione. Ginny looked at her and decided not to point out that she had been saying the same thing a few moments ago.

**Aunt Petunia nodded.**

**Uncle Vernon looked from Aunt Petunia to Dudley to Harry as if hoping somebody was going to shout 'April Fool!' When nobody did, he opened his mouth yet again, but was spared the struggle to find more words by the arrival of the third owl of the evening. It zoomed through the still-open window like a feathery cannon-ball and landed with a clatter on the kitchen table, causing all three of the Dursleys to jump with fright. Harry tore a second official-looking envelope from the owl's beak and ripped it open as the owl swooped back out into the night.**

**'Enough - effing - owls,' muttered Uncle Vernon distractedly, stomping over to the window and slamming it shut again.**

"Hey Fred are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked George

"I think I am George," replied Fred. Hermione had the sudden wild vision of the Twins painted yellow and dressed in striped blue and white pyjamas. She giggled and at Ron's look told him she would tell him later. As this was happening Molly was explaining to the Twins that no, they could _not_ send any number of owls to follow Vernon Dursley around nor could then send owl after owl to Harry, because as she pointed out, Harry would get into trouble.

_**Dear Mr Potter,**_

_**Further to our letter of approximately twenty-two minutes ago, the Ministry of Magic has revised its decision to destroy your wand forthwith. You may retain your wand until your disciplinary hearing on the twelfth of August, at which time an official decision will be taken. Following discussions with the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Ministry has agreed that the question of your expulsion will also be decided at that time. You should therefore consider yourself suspended from- school pending further enquiries.**_

_**With best wishes,**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Mafalda Hopkirk**_

_**Improper Use of Magic Office**_

_**Ministry of Magic**_

"I bet that made you feel much better," giggled Tonks, after all, what was so different from being expelled to having to go to court, well, you could appeal it she supposed.

**Harry read this letter through three times in quick succession. The miserable knot in his chest loosened slightly with the relief of knowing he was not yet definitely expelled, though his fears were by no means banished. Everything seemed to hang on this hearing on the twelfth of August.**

"You'll be fine," Sirius reassured him, but it was not until _Harry_ nodded that Harry felt any better.

**'Well?' said Uncle Vernon, recalling Harry to his surroundings. 'What now? Have they sentenced you to anything? Do your lot have the death penalty?' he added as a hopeful afterthought.**

"THE DEATH PENALTY!" Molly screamed, how DARE that man, no not man, monster wish death on a child! Sirius and Remus were just as livid however they rounded on Dumbledore,

"How can you let him stay there?" Sirius yelled.

"Really Albus, that sort of environment is not a good place for Harry to be! His own relative wants him dead!" Remus tried to reason but ended up yelling. Dumbledore sighed, they knew perfectly well why Harry was where he was.

"We'll discuss this later," He said with such finality that they fell silent.

**'I've got to go to a hearing,' said Harry.**

**'And they'll sentence you there?'**

**'I suppose so.'**

**'I won't give up hope, then,' said Uncle Vernon nastily.**

"Sirius, if you ever go and see the Dursley's about their treatment of Harry, make sure I'm with you," Molly said sounding dangerous, Sirius stared at her for a few minutes before nodding and returning to growling and glaring at the book.

**'Well, if that's all,' said Harry, getting to his feet. He was desperate to be alone, to think, perhaps to send a letter to Ron, Hermione or Sirius.**

**'NO, IT RUDDY WELL IS NOT ALL!' bellowed Uncle Vernon. 'SIT BACK DOWN!'**

**'What now?' said Harry impatiently.**

**'DUDLEY!' roared Uncle Vernon. 'I want to know exactly what happened to my son!'**

**'FINE!' yelled Harry, and in his temper, red and gold sparks shot out of the end of his wand, still clutched in his hand.**

"Stay calm Harry," Hermione whispered, Harry gave her hand a reassuring squeeze noticing that Ron was still holding her other hand completely oblivious to the fact he was doing it.

**All three Dursleys flinched, looking terrified.**

**'Dudley and I were in the alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk,' said Harry, speaking fast, fighting to control his temper. 'Dudley thought he'd be smart with me, I pulled out my wand but didn't use it. Then two Dementors turned up -'**

**'But what ARE Dementoids?' asked Uncle Vernon furiously. 'What do they DO?'**

**'I told you - they suck all the happiness out of you,' said Harry, 'and if they get the chance, they kiss you - '**

**'Kiss you?' said Uncle Vernon, his eyes popping slightly. 'Kiss you?'**

"It does sound rather odd," said Kingsley, his calm voice soothing the room.

**'It's what they call it when they suck the soul out of your mouth.'**

**Aunt Petunia uttered a soft scream.**

"Your right Ginny, these people are melodramatic!" Sirius told her with a smile that she shyly returned.

**'His soul? They didn't take - he's still got his - '**

**She seized Dudley by the shoulders and shook him, as though testing to see whether she could hear his soul rattling around inside hint.**

**'Of course they didn't get his soul, you'd know if they had,' said Harry, exasperated.**

**'Fought 'em off, did you, son?' said Uncle Vernon loudly, with the appearance of a man struggling to bring the conversation back on to a plane he understood. 'Gave 'em the old one-two, did you?'**

**'You can't give a Dementor the old one-two,' said Harry through clenched teeth.**

**'Why's he all right, then?' blustered Uncle Vernon. 'Why isn't e all empty, then?'**

**'Because I used the Patronus - '**

**WHOOSH. With a clattering, a whirring of wings and a soft fall of dust, a fourth owl came shooting out of the kitchen fireplace.**

**'FOR GOD'S SAKE!' roared Uncle Vernon, pulling great clumps of hair out of his moustache, something he hadn't been driven to do in a long time. 'I WILL NOT HAVE OWLS HERE, I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS, I TELL YOU!'**

"It's too bad, aye Fred, by the sounds of it that would have been a good plan," George muttered, ignoring the stern gaze of his mother.

"Yeah, but we couldn't get Harry in trouble," said Fred, which seemed to placate Molly somewhat.

**But Harry was already pulling a roll of parchment from the owl's leg. He was so convinced that this letter had to be from Dumbledore, explaining everything - the Dementors, Mrs Figg, what the Ministry was up to, how he, Dumbledore, intended to sort everything out - that for the first time in his life he was disappointed to see Sirius's handwriting. Ignoring Uncle Vernons ongoing rant about owls, and narrowing his eyes against a second cloud of dust as the most recent owl took off back up the chimney, Harry read Sirius's message.**

_**Arthur has just told us what's happened. Don't leave the house again, whatever you do.**_

**Harry found this such an inadequate response to everything that had happened tonight that he turned the piece of parchment over, looking for the rest of the letter, but there was nothing else.**

Sirius smiled sheepishly, "That's all I could concentrate on writing, Molly and I were in the middle of trying to murder 'Dung when Arthur told me to write that note," he told Harry who replied,

"Sorry, I was just so frustrated with what was going on with the Dursley's and everything."

"It's fine."

**And now his temper was rising again. Wasn't anybody going to say 'well done' for fighting off two Dementors single-handed? **

"Well done Harry!" the Twins shouted making Harry laugh.

**Both Mr Weasley and Sirius were acting as though he'd misbehaved, and were saving their tellings-off until they could ascertain how much damage had been done.**

**'. . . a peck, I mean, pack of owls **

"That's where the title came from them?" murmured Remus to Tonks.

"Big letdown, I know," she whispered in reply.

**shooting in and out of my house. I won't have it, boy, I won't - '**

**'I can't stop the owls coming,' Harry snapped, crushing Sirius's letter in his fist.**

**'I want the truth about what happened tonight!' barked Uncle Vernon. 'If it was Demenders who hurt Dudley, how come you've been expelled? You did you-know-what, you've admitted, it!'**

"I thought only You-Know-Who did you-know-what?" joked Fred, his brother looked at him confused.

"No I didn't know only You-Know-Who did you-know-what but would-you-know-what if he did it?," George laughed. Emmeline was confused,

"Does anyone else know what they just said?" she asked the room, nobody nodded. They were just as confused as she was.

**Harry took a deep, steadying breath. His head was beginning to ache again. He wanted more than anything to get out of the kitchen, and away from the Dursleys.**

**'I did the Patronus Charm to get rid of the Dementors,' he said, forcing himself to remain calm. 'It's the only thing that works against them.'**

**'But what were Dementoids doing in Little Whinging?' said Uncle Vernon in an outraged tone.**

"Somebody sent them," growled Moody.

**'Couldn't tell you,' said Harry wearily. 'No idea.'**

**His head was pounding in the glare of the strip-lighting now. His anger was ebbing away. He felt drained, exhausted. The Dursleys were all staring at him.**

**'It's you,' said Uncle Vernon forcefully. 'It's got something to do with you, boy, I know it. Why else would they turn up here? Why else would they be down that alleyway? You've got to be the only - the only - ' Evidently, he couldn't bring himself to say the word 'wizard'. The only you-know-what for miles.'**

**'I don't know why they were here.'**

**But at Uncle Vernon's words, Harry's exhausted brain had ground back into action. Why had the Dementors come to Little Whinging? How could it be coincidence that they had arrived in the alleyway where Harry was? Had they been sent? Had the Ministry of Magic lost control of the Dementors? Had they deserted Azkaban and joined Voldemort, as Dumbledore had predicted they would?**

**'These Demembers guard some weirdo prison?' asked Uncle Vernon, lumbering along in the wake of Harry's train of thought.**

**'Yes,' said Harry.** **If only his head would stop hurting, if only he could just leave the kitchen and get to his dark bedroom and think . . .**

**'Oho! They were coming to arrest you!' said Uncle Vernon, with the triumphant air of a man reaching an unassailable conclusion. That's it, isn't it, boy? You're on the run from the law!'**

_Harry _rolled his eyes, his uncle hadn't changed, not that he ever saw him, but still.

**'Of course I'm not,' said Harry, shaking his head as though to scare off a fly, his mind racing now.**

**Then why - ?'**

**'He must have sent them,' said Harry quietly, more to himself than to Uncle Vernon.**

"I don't think that it was Voldemort who sent the Dementors, Harry," said Dumbledore looking at the spot just to the left of Harry's head.

"You don't think it was Fudge do you?" asked Kingsley.

"No, even Fudge knows how important you are to the wizarding community, it's more likely that it was someone else, though definitely someone from the Ministry." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Knowing Harry is important to the community doesn't stop him from printing slander in the Prophet though" said Hermione.

**'What's that? Who must have sent them?'**

**'Lord Voldemort,' said Harry.**

**He registered dimly how strange it was that the Dursleys, who flinched, winced and squawked if they heard words like 'wizard', 'magic' or 'wand', could hear the name of the most evil wizard of all time without the slightest tremor.**

"Yes, well they are not exactly at the top of the food chain are they Potter?" sneered Snape. He had always loathed Petunia, and Dursley was obviously an idiot, but the most satisfying thing Snape could get out of these books would be to tear Potter's arrogance down a level or two. He was amused to see Potter glaring at him, but he then heard a snicker coming from _Potter_. Snape looked at him and was astonished to see him wink. _Did_ _Potter_ _know_? No it wasn't impossible, he never would have allowed for Dumbledore to tell him, and he most certainly wouldn't have told him himself. No, he refused to believe that _Potter_ of all people knew his secret.

**'Lord - hang on,' said Uncle Vernon, his face screwed up, a look of dawning comprehension coming into his piggy eyes. 'I've heard that name . . . that was the one who - '**

**'Murdered my parents, yes,' Harry said dully.**

Sirius and Remus growled at the mention of their best friends' murder.

**'But he's gone,' said Uncle Vernon impatiently, without the slightest sign that the murder of Harry's parents might be a painful topic. That giant bloke said so. He's gone.'**

**'He's back,' said Harry heavily.**

**It felt very strange to be standing here in Aunt Petunia's surgically clean kitchen, beside the top'-of-the-range fridge and the wide-screen television, talking calmly of Lord Voldemort to Uncle Vernon.**

"It was so surreal" stated Harry

**The arrival of the Dementors in Little Whinging seemed to have breached the great, invisible wall that divided the relentlessly non-magical world of Privet Drive and the world beyond. Harry's two lives had somehow become fused and everything had been turned upside-down; the Dursleys were asking for details about the magical world, and Mrs Figg knew Albus Dumbledore; Dementors were soaring around Little Whinging, and he might never return to Hogwarts. Harry's head throbbed more painfully.**

"Aw is all that thinking making your head hurt Harry?" teased Ron as he dodged a stinging hex.

"Now Harry there is no need for hexes," said Remus handing him a pillow, which Harry proceeded to throw at Ron.

"Remus!" cried Molly in shock. Sirius grinned at Remus and said,

"He was the Marauder that you had to watch when we were in school, he was the innocent looking one, so nobody ever guessed that he was behind a lot of our pranks," Sirius laughed as Molly openly gapped. Tonks looked Remus up and down,

"So there's more to the Professor than meets the eye…interesting," she breathed into his ear, making him shudder as the warm air hit him. Sirius, who was watching them, decided that it was probably best if they continued, lest Remus notice everyone looking at them and die of embarrassment.

**'Back?' whispered Aunt Petunia.**  
**She was looking at Harry as she had never looked at him before. And all of a sudden, for the very first time in his life, Harry fully appreciated that Aunt Petunia was his mother's sister. He could not have said why this hit him so very powerfully at this moment. All he knew was that he was not the only person in the room who had an inkling of what Lord Voldemort being back might mean. Aunt Petunia had never in her life looked at him like that before. Her large, pale eyes (so unlike her sisters) were not narrowed in dislike or anger, they were wide and fearful.**

"That's because whether she liked it or not, Petunia knows how dangerous Voldemort really is," it was surprisingly Snape who said this. _Harry_ was once again smirking at what the Potions Master had said, much to his, and Harry's annoyance.

**The furious pretence that Aunt Petunia had maintained all Harry's life - that there was no magic and no world other than the world she inhabited with Uncle Vernon - seemed to have fallen away.**

**'Yes,' Harry said, talking directly to Aunt Petunia now. ;He came back a month ago. I saw him.'**

**Her hands found Dudley's massive leather-clad shoulders and clutched them.**

**'Hang on,' said Uncle Vernon, looking from his wife to Harry and back again, apparently dazed and confused by the unprecedented understanding that seemed to have sprung up between them. 'Hang on. This Lord Voldything's back, you say.'**

"Pfft, Voldything? We should start calling him that, what do you think Fred?" asked George but before he could answer,

"You will do no such thing!" yelled Molly.

"Personally, I prefer 'Snakeface'" smirked _Harry_, who quickly avoided Molly's glare once it was directed towards him.

**'Yes.'**

**The one who murdered your parents.'**

**'Yes.'**

**'And now he's sending Dismembers after you?'**

**'Looks like it,' said Harry.**

'**I see,' said Uncle Vernon, looking from his white-faced wife to Harry and hitching up his trousers. He seemed to be swelling, his** **great purple face stretching before Harry's eyes. 'Well, that settles it,' he said, his shirt front straining as he inflated himself, 'you can get out of this house, boy!'**

"He's kicking you out!" yelled Sirius.

"Don't leave!" cried Molly.

"Guys" Harry said weakly, "You know I don't, remember, you had to come and get me?"

**'What?' said Harry.**

**'You heard me - OUT!' Uncle Vernon bellowed, and even Aunt Petunia and Dudley jumped. 'OUT! OUT! I should've done this years ago! Owls treating the place like a rest home, puddings exploding, half the lounge destroyed, Dudley's tail, Marge bobbing around on the ceiling and that flying Ford Anglia – **

"Well when you put it that way, I suppose I can see where he is coming from," Arthur said then "Not that he should be kicking you out," he added quickly after seeing the look on his wife's face.

**OUT! OUT! You've had it! You're history! You're not staying here if some loony's after you, you're not endangering my wife and son, you're not bringing trouble down on us. It you're going the same way as your useless parents, I've had it! OUT!'**

**Harry stood rooted to the spot. The letters from the Ministry, Mr Weasley and Sirius were all crushed in his left hand. Don't leave the house again, whatever you do. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR AUNT AND UNCLE'S HOUSE.**

**'You heard me!' said Uncle Vernon, bending forwards now, his massive purple face coming so close to Harry's, he actually felt flecks of spit hit his face. 'Get going! You were all keen to leave half an hour ago! I'm right behind you! Get out and never darken our doorstep again! Why we ever kept you in the first place, I don't know, Marge was right, it should have been the orphanage. We were too damn soft for our own good, thought we could squash it out of you, **

The atmosphere had turned to ice. They could feel raw energy crackling around them. Dumbledore was glaring furiously at the book, and when he spoke it was with a cold, flat voice that none of them ever wanted to hear ever again,

"Harry, what do they mean by '_squashing it out of you_'?" he asked deadly quiet, the twinkle gone from his eyes.

"J-just, they liked to keep me as miserable as possible, that's all" Harry said not really looking at anyone. Dumbledore looked towards Sirius and Remus, yes they would be discussing this later.

**thought we could turn you normal, but you've been rotten from the beginning and I've had enough - owls!'**

**The fifth owl zoomed down the chimney so fast it actually hit the floor before zooming into the air again with a loud screech. Harry raised his hand to seize the letter, which was in a scarlet envelope, but it soared straight over his head, flying directly at Aunt Petunia, who let out a scream and ducked, her arms over her face. The owl dropped the red envelope on her head,**

"A Howler, who sent her a Howler?" asked Bill, Harry shrugged, he had no idea because no one would tell him. His future self, caught his eye and smirked clearly teasing him with his 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' expression. Harry glared causing_ Harry_ to laugh.

**turned, and flew straight back up the chimney.**

**Harry darted forwards to pick up the letter, but Aunt Petunia beat him to it.**

**'You can open it if you like,' said Harry, 'but I'll hear what it says anyway. That's a Howler.'**

**'Let go of it, Petunia!' roared Uncle Vernon. 'Don't touch it, it could be dangerous!'**

**'It's addressed to me,' said Aunt Petunia in a shaking voice. 'It's addressed to me, Vernon, look! Mrs Petunia Dursley, The Kitchen, Number Four, Privet Drive - '**

"How do they always know exactly where you are?" asked Ginny.

Remus, who couldn't resist passing on knowledge, replied, "They're charmed to be delivered directly to where the receiving person is, so the address changes accordingly." Sirius chuckled at Remus as he entered what the Marauders had dubbed 'Professor mode'.

**She caught her breath, horrified. The red envelope had begun to smoke.**

**'Open it!' Harry urged her. 'Get it over with! It'll happen anyway.'**

**'No.'**

"I hate Howlers," said _Ron_ as his younger self agreed.

**Aunt Petunia's hand was trembling. She looked wildly around the kitchen as though looking for an escape route, but too late - the envelope burst into flames. Aunt Petunia screamed and dropped it.**

"Yep definitely melodramatic," Tonks added to Ginny and Sirius's earlier comments.

**An awful voice filled the kitchen, echoing in the confined space, issuing from the burning letter on the table.**

**'Remember my last, Petunia.'**

"That's it? What a letdown!" cried Tonks.

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she might faint. She sank into the chair beside Dudley, her face in her hands. The remains of the envelope smouldered into ash in the silence.**

**'What is this?' Uncle Vernon said hoarsely. 'What - I don't - 'Petunia?'**

**Aunt Petunia said nothing. Dudley was staring stupidly at his mother, his mouth hanging open. The silence spiralled horribly. Harry was watching his aunt, utterly bewildered, his head throbbing fit to burst.**

"Information overload," Hermione commented nodding, she had had experience with those.

**'Petunia, dear?' said Uncle Vernon timidly. 'P-Petunia?'**

**She raised her head. She was still trembling. She swallowed.**

**'The boy - the boy will have to stay, Vernon,' she said weakly.**

"What? She's actually letting you stay?" asked Emmeline

"Well that's where he was when you went to go and get him wasn't it," said Sirius smirking at her as she blushed and lightly punched him in the arm. Harry who had heard the conversation, looked between Sirius and Emmeline, something was definitely going on between them, he'd have to ask Remus, he would know. Then he remembered the way Remus had been looking at Tonks, maybe he should talk to Sirius as well.

**'W-what?'**

**'He stays,' she said. She was not looking at Harry. She got to her feet again.**

**'He . . . but Petunia . . .'**

**'If we throw him out, the neighbours will talk,' she said. She was rapidly regaining her usual brisk, snappish manner, though she was still very pale. 'They'll ask awkward questions, they'll want to know where he's gone. We'll have to keep him.'**

**Uncle Vernon was deflating like an old tyre.**

**'But Petunia, dear - '**

**Aunt Petunia ignored him. She turned to Harry.**

**'You're to stay in your room,' she said. 'You're not to leave the house. Now get to bed.'**  
**Harry didn't move.**

**'Who was that Howler from?'**

"She won't answer you mate, I mean when does Hermione ever answer us, and she actually likes us," said Ron and Harry nodded. Hermione glared at being compared to Petunia, she ripped her hand out of his, ignoring the cold feeling and growled,

"And sometimes I have to remind myself why I like either of you in the first place!"

Harry and Ron looked thoroughly terrified at the look in her eye and quickly muttered an apology, _Ron _and _Harry_ on the other hand, laughed.

**'Don't ask questions,' Aunt Petunia snapped.**

**'Are you in touch with wizards?'**

**'I told you to get to bed!'**

**'What did it mean? Remember the last what?'**

**'Go to bed!'**

**'How come - ?'**

**'YOU HEARD YOUR AUNT, NOW GO UP TO BED!'**

"That's the end of the chapter," said Hermione closing the book, but before she could offer it to anyone else, Sirius, Molly and Remus rounded on Dumbledore, wanting answers. Harry himself very much wanted to know why Dumbledore wasn't looking him in the eye, but these thoughts were driven back as his older self spoke.

"There will be time to talk to Dumbledore tomorrow, there are only three more chapters before we should all hit the hay anyway." _Harry _said calmly.

Dumbledore was quite relieved that this confrontation had been set back; he wanted to talk to _Harry_ before he had to promise the others anything.

With that Hermione cleared her throat to get everyone's attention and said,

"So who wants to read next?" Tonks raised her hand and Hermione passed her the book.

Tonks cleared her throat and looked at the chapter title.

"Oh thank god," she cheered then read out "**The Advanced Guard**."


	6. The Advanced Guard

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling. Please review :)**

* * *

The Advanced Guard

_Finally, Harry was getting out of that horrible place_. This was the general thought as Tonks began the next chapter. And by 'general' I mean everybody, even Snape, not that he would admit that he cared about Potter, his argument was that if Potter wasn't at the Dursley's then he would have to hear about Petunia. The fact that he also wouldn't have to hear Potter whining about everything was an added bonus.

_**I've just been attacked by Dementors and I might be expelled from Hogwarts. I want to know what's going on and when I'm going to get out of here.**_

Snape scoffed and rolled his eyes at Potter's arrogance, as if they were going to tell him anything that could likely be intercepted.

**Harry copied these words on to three separate pieces of parchment the moment he reached the desk in his dark bedroom. He addressed the first to Sirius, the second to Ron and the third to Hermione. **

"Why did you send three letters, I mean I get why you thought Sirius would give you answers but why ask both Ron and Hermione in separate letters?" asked Tonks, cutting herself off. It would have been much easier just to send one letter to the both of them.

"Well, Hermione would have sent me a letter with all of the facts and it would have been in a lot of detail that I probably wouldn't have understood. Ron's letter would have been the same thing only it would have been much easier to understand, so I would have used Ron's letter to work out what Hermione had said…if that makes sense," Harry trailed off turning red as Hermione stared at him incredulously.  
"Don't look at mini-Harry like that 'Mione, it's happened before," laughed _Ron_.

**His owl, Hedwig, was off hunting; her cage stood empty on the desk. Harry paced the bedroom waiting for her to come back, his head pounding, his brain too busy for sleep even though his eyes stung and itched with tiredness. His back ached from hauling Dudley home, and the two lumps on his head where the window and Dudley had hit him were throbbing painfully.**

"Toughen up Harry, you've had worse," muttered _Ron_ to _Harry_.

**Up and down he paced, consumed with anger and frustration, grinding his teeth and clenching his fists, casting angry looks out at the empty, star-strewn sky every time he passed the window. Dementors sent to get him, Mrs Figg and Mundungus Fletcher tailing him in secret, then suspension from Hogwarts and a hearing at the Ministry of Magic - and still no one was telling him what was going on.**

"No wonder you were so angry went you got here Harry!" exclaimed Ginny, she had noticed that since Harry had gotten here, she had found it much easier to talk to him. Maybe because she had finally gotten over her crush on him, well, she thought she had, the jury was still out on whether not it was true.

"What do you mean angry?" asked Sirius, Harry had seemed perfectly fine by the time he had seen him.

"You mean you didn't hear the screaming coming from Harry and Ron's room?" she said. Sirius shook his head. "Oh well you'll just have to wait," she added causing him to glare at her.

**And what, what, had that Howler been about? Whose voice had echoed so horribly, so menacingly, through the kitchen?**

"Do you know?" Harry asked his future self suddenly.

_Harry _smiled, "Spoilers," he replied as Dumbledore chuckled to himself.

**Why was he still trapped here without information? Why was everyone treating him like some naughty kid? Don't do any more magic, stay in the house . . .****He kicked his school trunk as he passed it, but far from relieving his anger he felt worse, as he now had a sharp pain in his toe to deal with in addition to the pain in the rest of his body**

_Ron_ snickered quietly at the description. _Harry_ had never been one to admit he was in pain, and for him to be admitting that he was in pain from something as minor as kicking his toe, well, it was just ridiculous.

**Just as he limped past the window, Hedwig soared through it with a soft rustle of wings like a small ghost.**

**'About time!' Harry snarled, as she landed lightly on top of her cage. 'You can put that down, I've got work for you!'**

"Don't take it out on Hedwig, Harry," said Hermione glaring at him.

"I felt bad about it later," Harry muttered.

**Hedwig's large, round, amber eyes gazed at him reproachfully over the dead frog clamped in her beak.**

Hestia and Emmeline wrinkled their noses at the description; it wasn't a very nice image.

**'Come here,' said Harry, picking up the three small rolls of parchment and a leather thong and tying the scrolls to her scaly leg. Take these straight to Sirius, Ron and Hermione and don't come back here without good long replies. Keep pecking them till they've written decent-length answers if you've got to. Understand?'**

Hermione and Ron grimaced; it had not been a fun experience and it had only given them a small warning of what Harry's temperament had been when he arrived.

**Hedwig gave a muffled hooting noise, her beak still full of frog.**

**'Get going, then,' said Harry.**

**She took off immediately. The moment she'd gone, Harry threw himself down on his bed without undressing and stared at the dark ceiling. In addition to every other miserable feeling, he now felt guilty that he'd been irritable with Hedwig; **

"See!" said Harry, as Hermione rolled her eyes.

**she was the only friend he had at number four, Privet Drive But he'd make it up to her when she came back with the answers from Sirius, Ron and Hermione.**

"Did you?" asked Molly

"She never came back," Harry muttered quietly.

**They were bound to write back quickly; they couldn't possibly ignore a Dementor attack. He'd probably wake up tomorrow to three fat letters full of sympathy and plans for his immediate removal to The Burrow. And with that comforting idea, sleep rolled over him, stifling all further thought.**

Sirius winced.

**But Hedwig didn't return next morning. Harry spent the day in his bedroom, leaving it only to go to the bathroom. Three times that day Aunt Petunia shoved food into his room through the cat-Flap **

"Cat-Flap? What cat-flap?" growled Remus.

"You mean there really was a cat-flap?" gasped Molly. Sirius blinked,

"You knew about it?" he yelled. Molly glared at him but didn't back down.

"I thought it was just something the Twins made up to get out of trouble!" she yelled back.

"Mum! We would-" started Fred.

"Never make something-" continued George glaring at his mother

"Like that up!" Fred finished also glaring at Molly. How could she think they would make something like that up? Molly opened her mouth to say something when _Harry_ interjected,

"Molly, Sirius, there are only two more chapters that we can fit in tonight, can you please save this argument until then," he said, his tone effectively making them go silent.

_Harry_ turned to Tonks, who was looking at him wide eyed, "Can you please keep reading Tonks?" She nodded and continued.

**Uncle Vernon had installed three summers ago. Every time Harry heard her approaching he tried to question her about the Howler, but he might as well have interrogated the doorknob for all the answers he got. **

"Probably would have gotten more answers that way," muttered Harry to himself.

**Otherwise, the Dursleys kept well clear of his bedroom. Harry couldn't see the point of forcing his company on them; another row would achieve nothing except perhaps make him so angry he'd perform more illegal magic.**

"Accidental magic isn't illegal," stated Kingsley.

"Tell that to the ministry," growled Moody.

**So it went on for three whole days. Harry was alternately filled with restless energy that made him unable to settle to anything, during which time he paced his bedroom, furious at the whole lot of them for leaving him to stew in this mess; and with a lethargy so complete that he could lie on his bed for an hour at a time, staring dazedly into space, aching with dread at the thought of the Ministry hearing.**

_That is it!_ thought Snape, he was sick and tired of listening to Potter whine, he would be leaving as soon as he was able and planned not to return for as long as possible.

**What if they ruled against him? What if he was expelled and his wand was snapped in half? What would he do, where would he go? He could not return to living full-time with the Dursleys, not now he knew the other world, the one to which he really belonged. Might he be able to move into Sirius's house, as Sirius had suggested a year ago, before he had been forced to flee from the Ministry? **

Harry looked at Sirius, wanting to know the answer.

Sirius smiled, "Of course, you will always be welcome here," he turned to the others, "that goes for the rest of you as well," he told them.

"Padfoot, you did notice that you just told Snape that he was welcome in your house right?" laughed Remus as Sirius blanched.

"As if I would ever want to come here willingly," sneered Snape.

"Good, cause I just un-invited you," said Sirius, rather childishly.

**Would Harry be allowed to live there alone, given that he was still underage? Or would the matter of where he went next be decided for him? **

Dumbledore sighed, there was still a good chance that Harry would have to stay with the Dursley's not matter what Sirius said. He knew neither Harry nor Sirius (nor Remus and Molly, for that matter) would like it, but it was, in all honesty what was best for Harry until he was of age.

**Had his breach of the International Statute of Secrecy been severe enough to land him in a cell in Azkaban? Whenever this thought occurred, Harry invariably slid off his bed and began pacing again.**

"Harry why didn't you say something?" asked Molly.

Harry shrugged but didn't answer.

**On the fourth night after Hedwig's departure Harry was lying in one of his apathetic phases, staring at the ceiling, his exhausted mind quite blank, when his uncle entered his bedroom. Harry looked slowly around at him. Uncle Vernon was wearing his best suit and an expression of enormous smugness.**

Tonks stopped in her reading for a minute and laughed, it was nice to see that her plan had worked so well.

**'We're going out,' he said.**

**'Sorry?'**

**'We - that is to say, your aunt, Dudley and I - are going out.'**

**'Fine,' said Harry dully, looking back at the ceiling.**

"I really could care less what they did at that point," Harry told Sirius, who squeezed Harry's shoulders.

**'You are not to leave your bedroom while we are away.'**

**'OK.'**

**'You are not to touch the television, the stereo, or any of our possessions.'**

**'Right.'**

**'You are not to steal food from the fridge.'**

"Steal food!" gasped Emmeline, he lived in that house, how could he steal food?

**'OK.'**

**'I am going to lock your door.'**

**'You do that.'**

Hermione shivered, she hated hearing about Harry being like that, so drained emotionally that he didn't really care about anything.

**Uncle Vernon glared at Harry, clearly suspicious of this lack of argument, then stomped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Harry heard the key turn in the lock and Uncle Vernon's footsteps walking heavily down the stairs. A few minutes later he heard the slamming of car doors, the rumble of an engine, and the unmistakeable sound of the car sweeping out of the drive.** **Harry had no particular feeling about the Dursleys leaving. **

"It sounds like you didn't give a particular feeling about anything," said Arthur worried about Harry's seemingly depressed emotional state.

**It made no difference to him whether they were in the house or not. He could not even summon the energy to get up and turn on his bedroom light. The room grew steadily darker around him as he lay listening to the night sounds through the window he kept open all the time, waiting for the blessed moment when Hedwig returned.**

**The empty house creaked around him. The pipes gurgled. Harry ay there in a kind of stupor, thinking of nothing, suspended in misery.**

"Pull yourself together, boy, you're easy pickings like that," growled Moody.

**Then, quite distinctly, he heard a crash in the kitchen below.**  
**He sat bolt upright, listening intently. The Dursleys couldn't be back, it was much too soon, and in any case he hadn't heard their car.**

**There was silence for a few seconds, then voices.**

"Who is it?" whispered Emmeline, Sirius raised an eyebrow at her, obviously she was too caught up in the book again, but then, she had always been fond of books, after all, that was part of the reason she had been in the library all those years ago, when they had…well…done something that just the thought of surrounded by people, made him blush. He shook his head, not wanting to bring any attention to himself while having those kinds of thoughts and whispered back,

"It's you, love," She froze next to him, he hadn't called her that in years, since before he went to Azkaban, she looked at him, to see whether he had called her that on purpose, but he had already turned back to the book.

**Burglars, he thought, sliding off the bed on to his feet - but a split second later it occurred to him that burglars would keep their voices down, and whoever was moving around in the kitchen was certainly not troubling to do so.**

**He snatched up his wand from the bedside table and stood lacing his bedroom door, listening with all his might. Next moment, he jumped as the lock gave a loud click and his door swung open.**

"How can he still be doing accidental magic?" Bill asked Dumbledore.

"All wizards can do accidental magic if they have to, though it is easier, for those who are more powerful. In this case Harry uses it because he knows he can't use his wand but needs to be able to escape if he needs to, this is where his magic comes in, reacting to the situation, thus opening to the door," Dumbledore explained.

**Harry stood motionless, staring through the open doorway at the dark upstairs landing, straining his ears for further sounds, but none came. He hesitated for a moment, then moved swiftly and silently out of his room to the head of the stairs.**  
**His heart shot upwards into his throat. There were people standing in the shadowy hall below, silhouetted against the streetlight glowing through the glass door; eight or nine of them, all, as far as he could see, looking up at him.**

"Good, keep an eye out for who is with you, it's always easier to take someone down if you know where they are," said Moody.

"Alastor, need I remind you that Harry is not one of your Aurors and the people in the room with him are you and the rest of the guard," said Molly frowning at him.

**'Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out,' said a low, growling voice.**

**Harry's heart was thumping uncontrollably. He knew that voice, but he did not lower his wand.**

"Moody didn't say it, but he was very impressed at that Harry," smiled Tonks, Moody also smiled -at least that's what Harry thought he was doing- and nodded.

**'Professor Moody?' he said uncertainly.**

**'I don't know so much about "Professor",' growled the voice, 'never got round to much teaching, did I? Get down here, we want to see you properly.'**  
**Harry lowered his wand slightly but did not relax his grip on it, nor did he move. **

"Good, you never know if it is an imposter or not," barked Moody.

**He had very good reason to be suspicious. He had recently spent nine months in what he had thought was Mad-Eye Moody's company only to find out that it wasn't Moody at all, but an impostor; an impostor, moreover, who had tried to kill Harry before being unmasked. **

"What? When was this?" asked Hestia, she hadn't heard that story, she knew that Moody had been impersonated, but she didn't know that the imposter had tried to kill Harry, though it did sound like the logical, if unfortunate (because it was logical), reason that Moody would have been replaced, if that line of thought made sense. Before she could decide however Sirius half growled, half whispered,

"After the graveyard," she nodded, not wanting to dwell on it and turned back to the book.

**But before he could make a decision about what to do next, a second, slightly hoarse voice floated upstairs.**

**'It's all right, Harry. We've come to take you away.'**

"Professor Moony!" Sirius cheered, earning a smile from his best friend.

**Harry's heart leapt. He knew that voice, too, though he hadn't heard it for over a year.**  
**'P-Professor Lupin?' he said disbelievingly. 'Is that you?'**

"You know my name is Remus right?" said Remus.

"Yeah it's just that you were my Professor for a year and I got used to referring to you as 'Lupin'. I guess it's just a reflex, I still think of you as Lupin, but I'm pretty sure I say Remus when I'm talking to you," Harry explained a little flushed.

**'Why are we all standing in the dark?' said a third voice, this one completely unfamiliar, a woman's. 'Lumos.'**

**A wand-tip flared, illuminating the hall with magical light. Harry blinked. The people below were crowded around the loot of the stairs, gazing up at him intently, some craning their heads for a better look.**

A murmur of 'sorry' was heard around the room.

**Remus Lupin stood nearest to him. Though still quite young, Lupin looked tired and rather ill; he had more grey hairs than when Harry had last said goodbye to him and his robes were more patched and shabbier than ever. **

Sirius frowned, Remus deserved some much more than he was given in life. If Moony would let him get away with it, he would have gladly given him as much money as he wanted, but Remus would never accept it.

"That is actually a rather good description, even if it is a little unflattering" said Remus.

**Nevertheless, he was smiling broadly at Harry, who tried to smile back despite his state of shock.**

"Well I'd been waiting for days and suddenly you were all in my kitchen," stated Harry.

**'Oooh, he looks just like I thought he would,' said the witch who was holding her lit wand aloft. She looked the youngest there; she had a pale heart-shaped face, dark twinkling eyes, and short spiky hair that was a violent shade of violet.**

Remus grinned at her description; yes Harry had Tonks down to a tee.

**Wotcher, Harry!'**  
**'Yeah, I see what you mean, Remus,' said a bald black wizard standing furthest back - he had a deep, slow voice and wore a single gold hoop in his ear - 'he looks exactly like James.'**

"You know Harry, your descriptions of people really aren't flattering are they," joked Fred. Harry flushed slightly and stuck his tongue out.

**'Except the eyes,' said a wheezy-voiced, silver-haired wizard at the back. 'Lily's eyes.'**

"If I had a sickle for every time someone has told me that," _Harry_ said wistfully.

"You could give them to me," said _Ron_ cheerfully, and then added "What, it's not like you need it!" at _Harry's _look. Ron was amazed, was he really that confident in the future that he could openly joke about money? Maybe his family had come into some money or something.

**Mad-Eye Moody, who had long grizzled grey hair and a large chunk missing from his nose, was squinting suspiciously at Harry through his mismatched eyes. One eye was small, dark and beady, the other large, round and electric blue - the magical eye that could see through walls, doors and the back of Moody's own head.**

Moody laughed at his description, it wasn't often he got such an honest thorough portrayal; most of the time people seemed to scared of him to say anything, of course this was Harry's thoughts and he, like everyone else, would probably never say it out loud, though that was probably due to his manners.

**'Are you quite sure it's him, Lupin?' he growled. 'It'd be a nice lookout if we bring back some Death Eater impersonating him. We ought to ask him something only the real Potter would know. Unless anyone brought any Veritaserum?'**

"You will do no such thing Alastor Moody," shrieked Molly

**'Harry, what form does your Patronus take?' Lupin asked.**

**'A stag,' said Harry nervously.**

**That's him, Mad-Eye,' said Lupin.**

**Very conscious of everybody still staring at him, Harry descended the stairs, stowing his wand in the back pocket of his jeans as he came.**

Moody, who was now muttering obscenities on proper wand safety, missed the next few sentences of the book.

**'Don't put your wand there, boy!' roared Moody. 'What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!'**

**'Who d'you know who's lost a buttock?' the violet-haired woman asked Mad-Eye interestedly.**

"It was you, wasn't it?" Tonks laughed, Moody didn't say anything, his silence seemed to confirm her theory and she laughed again.

**'Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your back pocket!' growled Mad-Eye. **

**'Elementary wand-safety, nobody bothers about it anymore.' He stumped off towards the kitchen. 'And I saw that,' he added irritably, as the woman rolled her eyes towards the ceiling.**

Tonks rolled her eyes again and stuck her tongue out at him. Moody grumbled something under his breath that made Remus laugh, but he wouldn't tell her what it was.

**Lupin held out his hand and shook Harry's.**

**'How are you?' he asked, looking closely at Harry.**

**'F-fine . . .'**

"Don't believe him, that's his answer for everything," said Ron as Hermione nodded adding,

"It's like his catch phrase." Harry glared at the pair of them as they smiled sweetly back.

**Harry could hardly believe this was real. Four weeks with nothing, not the tiniest hint of a plan to remove him from Privet Drive, and suddenly a whole bunch of wizards was standing matter-of-factly in the house as though this was a long-standing arrangement. He glanced at the people surrounding Lupin; they were still gazing avidly at him. He felt very conscious of the fact that he had riot combed his hair for four days.**

"Not that we can tell," said Ginny loudly, before blushing lightly when Harry looked at her. He smiled encouragingly and replied,

"Hardy, ha, ha," followed by him poking his tongue out at her which she re-payed in kind.

**'I'm - you're really lucky the Dursleys are out . . .' he mumbled.**

**'Lucky, ha!' said the violet-haired woman. 'It was me who lured them out of the way. Sent a letter by Muggle post telling them they'd been short-listed for the All-England Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition. They're heading off to the prize-giving right now . . . or they think they are.'**

"I'm a genius!" laughed Tonks. Sirius turned to her –leaning behind Harry and Remus- and whispered just low enough that Remus couldn't hear,

"If you were a genius, you would have worked out how to get Moony into bed by now," he teased. She spluttered and slapped him on the head. She turned back to face the rest of the group, ignored Remus's questioning look at her blush, glared at Sirius and continued reading.

**Harry had a fleeting vision of Uncle Vernon's face when he realised there was no All-England Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition.**  
**'We are leaving, aren't we?' he asked. 'Soon?'**

_Ron_ laughed, "Sorry _Harry_, you just sound so panicked," he laughed again before flinching in pain when _Harry_ kicked him,

"Shut up," he said mock pouting, which made _Ron _laugh even more.

**'Almost at once,' said Lupin, 'we're just waiting for the all-clear.'**

**'Where are we going? The Burrow?' Harry asked hopefully.**

"Unfortunately not," sighed Sirius. The Burrow would be much nicer, if more crowded than Grimmauld Place.

**'Not The Burrow, no,' said Lupin, motioning Harry towards the kitchen; the little knot of wizards followed, all still eyeing Harry curiously. 'Too risky. We've set up Headquarters somewhere un-detectable. It's taken a while . . .'**

**Mad-Eye Moody was now sitting at the kitchen table swigging from a hip flask, his magical eye spinning in all directions, taking in the Dursleys' many labour-saving appliances.**

"Labour saving?" asked Arthur.

"Not now, dear," sighed Molly before anyone could answer.

**This is Alastor Moody, Harry,' Lupin continued, pointing towards Moody. 'Yeah, I know,' said Harry uncomfortably. It felt odd to be introduced to somebody he'd thought he'd known for a year.**

**'And this is Nymphadora - '**

"Merlin, how come she lets you get away with calling her that?" exclaimed Sirius.

Tonks smirked, "I like him better," Sirius wiggled his eyebrows at her comment, and Tonks realising what she had said, added "and I do not let him!" crossly.

**'Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus,' said the young witch with a shudder, 'it's Tonks.'**

**'Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by her surname only,' finished Lupin.**

Sirius laughed, "Good one Moony, you'll get her yet," he smirked as said Werewolf blushed.

Emmeline sensing Remus's embarrassment wacked Sirius on his arm with her free hand, "Would you stop embarrassing them," she said sternly. He grinned wickedly at her and for a moment she thought she could see the old Sirius shining through his eyes.

"Why? It's fun," he cackled under his breath watching Remus turn red.

**'So would you if your fool of a mother had called you Nymphadora,' muttered Tonks.**

**'And this is Kingsley Shacklebolt.' He indicated the tall black wizard, who bowed. **

"Smooth," whispered Ron to Harry.

**'Elphias Doge.' The wheezy-voiced wizard nodded. 'Dedalus Diggle - '**

**'We've met before,' squeaked the excitable Diggle, dropping his violet-coloured top hat.**

"I'm not excitable!" protested Dedalus, "I was merely happy he remembered me." However from the looks on the faces of the people in the room, nobody believed him.

**'Emmeline Vance.' A stately-looking witch in an emerald green shawl inclined her head. 'Sturgis Podmore.' A square-jawed wizard with thick straw-coloured hair winked. 'And Hestia Jones.' A pink-cheeked, black-haired witch waved from next to the toaster.**

"Well Harry, I have to say, at least you were gentlemen enough to give myself, Hestia and Tonks decent descriptions," Emmeline said.

"Yes, maybe it's just the men he gives horrible depictions of," teased Hestia, giving Dedalus a look to which he pouted.

"How could he not give you lovely ladies charming descriptions," stated Sirius making Emmeline and Hestia blush and Tonks giggle.

"You always did have a way with women didn't you Padfoot," said Remus dryly. In truth it was good to see some of the old Sirius back. Being stuck in Grimmauld hadn't been good for his state of mind and Remus hadn't seen him this cheerful in a long while.

**Harry inclined his head awkwardly at each of them as they were introduced. He wished they would look at something other than him;**

There was another round of embarrassed looks and apologies echoing around the room.

**it was as though he had suddenly been ushered on-stage. He also wondered why so many of them, were there.**

**'A surprising number of people volunteered to come and get you,' said Lupin, as though he had read Harry's mind; **

"Moony has always been good at that," commented Sirius and those around the room nodded. Harry looked at Remus who was smiling at something Tonks had whispered to him, he then noticed that both _Harry_ and _Ron _were watching them and whispering to each other, but before he could wonder what was going on, Tonks continued.

**the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.**

"The look on your face was quite funny," Remus said simply as Harry pouted.

**'Yeah, well, the more the better,' said Moody darkly. 'We're your guard, Potter.'**

**'We're just waiting for the signal to tell us it's safe to set off,' said Lupin, glancing out of the kitchen window. 'We've got about fifteen minutes.'**

**'Very clean, aren't they, these Muggles?' said the witch called Tonks, who was looking around the kitchen with great interest. 'My dad's Muggle-born and he's a right old slob. I suppose it varies, just as it does with wizards?'**

"Why wouldn't it?" asked Hermione. Tonks shrugged.

**'Er - yeah,' said Harry. 'Look - ' he turned back to Lupin, 'what's going on, I haven't heard anything from anyone, what's Vol-?'**

Moody growled, the boy needed to learn that there was a time and a place for everything especially when it came to information.

**Several of the witches and wizards made odd hissing noises; Dedalus Diggle dropped his hat again and Moody growled, 'Shut up!'**

**'What?' said Harry.**

"Don't worry Harry, he's just being paranoid," Tonks to him.

"Better paranoid than dead," Moody barked.

**'We're not discussing anything here, it's too risky,' said Moody, turning his normal eye on Harry. His magical eye remained focused on the ceiling. 'Damn it,' he added angrily, putting a hand up to the magical eye, 'it keeps getting stuck - ever since that scum wore it.'**

Again Moody was heard to be muttering profanities only this time on the topic of Death Eater scum. Harry was actually quite surprised how many words Moody had come up with.

"Alastor, that's enough, there are children present," she cried. Said 'children' rolled their eyes at her, some (Fred and George) muttering their own profanities at being called children.

**And with a nasty squelching sound much like a plunger being pulled from a sink, he popped out his eye.**

Hermione and Ginny looked a little green at the image.

**'Mad-Eye, you do know that's disgusting, don't you?' said Tonks conversationally.**

**'Get me a glass of water, would you, Harry,' requested Moody.**

**Harry crossed to the dishwasher, took out a clean glass and filled it with water at the sink, still watched eagerly by the band of wizards. Their relentless staring was starting to annoy him.**

Harry grounded his teeth and waved them off before they could apologise, it was almost as annoying as the staring.

**'Cheers,' said Moody, when Harry handed him the glass. He dropped the magical eyeball into the water and prodded it up and down; the eye whizzed around, staring at them all in turn. 'I want three hundred and sixty degrees visibility on the return journey.'**

**'How're we getting - wherever we're going?' Harry asked.**

**'Brooms,' said Lupin. 'Only way. You're too young to Apparate, they'll be watching the Floo Network and it's more than our life's worth to set up an unauthorised Portkey.'**

**'Remus says you're a good flier,' said Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice.**

"Of course he is, he was flying at one," Sirius said proudly. Harry looked at him astonished,

"Really?" he asked eagerly, Sirius nodded but before he could say anything, _Harry_ interrupted,

"It'll be in the last book so mini-me will just have to wait," he said winking at Sirius who winked back and grinned, while Harry frowned at his older self's teasing and mock glared at Sirius.

**'He's excellent,' said Lupin, who was checking his watch. 'Anyway, you'd better go and get packed, Harry, we want to be ready to go when the signal comes.'**

**'I'll come and help you,' said Tonks brightly.**

"You're so nosey Tonks," Remus told her.

**She followed Harry back into the hall and up the stairs, looking around with much curiosity and interest.**

Remus laughed and said "See?" Tonks poked her tongue out at him and went back to reading, ignoring the kissy faces Sirius was making at her and Remus.

**'Funny place,' she said. 'It's a bit too clean, d'you know what I mean? Bit unnatural. Oh, this is better,' she added, as they entered Harry's bedroom and he turned on the light.**

**His room was certainly much messier than the rest of the house. Confined to it for four days in a very bad mood, Harry had not bothered tidying up after himself. **

"Ron is like that," said Molly, "except I make him clean it," she added.

Sirius and Remus laughed, "James was like that too only he did that all the time, he drove Lily crazy after they moved in together," they laughed. _Harry_ who had not known this, smiled at learning something new about his parents.

**Most of the books he owned were strewn over the floor where he'd tried to distract himself with each in turn and thrown it aside; Hedwig's cage needed cleaning out and was starting to smell; and his trunk lay open, revealing a jumbled mixture of Muggle clothes and wizards' robes that had spilled on to the floor around it.**

"Bloody hell Harry-," teased George, ducking away from Molly's glare.

"And I thought Ron's room was messy," snickered Fred.

"Hey!" yelled Ron, not that they were wrong.

**Harry started picking up books and throwing them hastily into his trunk. Tonks paused at his open wardrobe to look critically at her reflection in the mirror on the inside of the door.**

**'You know, I don't think violets really my colour,' she said pensively, tugging at a lock of spiky hair. 'D'you think it makes me look a bit peaky?'**

"Run Harry, you can never say the right thing in this kind of situation," yelled Sirius as the men nodded and the women scolded him.

**'Er - ' said Harry, looking up at her over the top of Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland.**

"Good Prongslet, stick with the neutral response," Sirius applauded.

"The neutral response?" asked Tonks, raising her eyebrow at the exact same time as Harry said,

"Prongslet?" he asked also raising an eyebrow. Sirius, being Sirius, completely ignored Tonks and answered Harry,

"You know, after Prongs, it's one of the nicknames you had as a baby," he said.

"Yeah there was also Pup, and Cub," added Remus. Harry closed his eyes, a ghost of a memory coming to the forefront of his mind. _His father spinning him in a circle. The whisper of the name 'Prongslet'. His mother's laugh. _Harry opened his eyes and blinked, Remus and Sirius were looking at him, he swallowed and whispered to them,

"I'll tell you later."

Tonks cleared her throat to get Sirius's attention. "The neutral response," she prompted.

"Neither denying or confirming, and therefore leaving it for the woman to decide," Remus said before Sirius could say anything. _Bloody Professor Mode_ he thought.

**'Yeah, it does,' said Tonks decisively. She screwed up her eyes in a strained expression as though she was struggling to remember something. A second later, her hair had turned bubble-gum pink.**

"That one's my favourite," she said interrupting herself, running her fingers through her pink locks.

**'How did you do that?' said Harry, gaping at her as she opened her eyes again.**

**'I'm a Metamorphmagus,' she said, looking back at her reflection and turning her head so that she could see her hair from all directions. 'It means I can change my appearance at will,' she added, spotting Harry's puzzled expression in the mirror behind her. 'I was born one. I got top marks in Concealment and Disguise during Auror training without any study at all, it was great.'**

"Which is why you are very lucky, that mark made up for you abysmal Stealth and Tracking mark," said Moody teasingly, which was odd for anyone who had never heard such a thing coming from Moody, today had just been full of surprises.

**'You're an Auror?' said Harry, impressed. Being a Dark-wizard-catcher was the only career he'd ever considered after Hogwarts.**

"And now I am one, sort of," _Harry_ said proudly.

"Sort of?" asked Hermione "How could you be sort of an Auror?"

"_Harry _and I have done all of the practical side of it chasing down Death Eaters, now we are working on the theory side of it in between odd jobs," _Ron_ told her.

"I become an Auror?" asked Ron, his eyes wide. _Ron_ laughed and nodded, it was kind of funny to see how insecure he had been. Molly sighed; it was bad enough that Bill and Charlie had such dangerous jobs, but her baby boy an Auror? She didn't think she would be able to stand it when the time came.

**'Yeah,' said Tonks, looking proud. 'Kingsley is as well, he's a bit higher up than me, though. I only qualified a year ago. Nearly failed on Stealth and Tracking. I'm dead clumsy, did you hear me break that plate when we arrived downstairs?'**

Remus snickered and Tonks hit him, not missing a beat in her reading.

**'Can you learn how to be a Metamorphmagus?' Harry asked her, straightening up, completely forgetting about packing.**

**Tonks chuckled.**

**'Bet you wouldn't mind hiding that scar sometimes, eh?'**

"Only every day," said Harry.

_Harry_ grimaced, "It only gets worse," he told himself, which he still found to be a little bizarre.

"Joy," replied Harry, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

**Her eyes found the lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead.**

**'No, I wouldn't mind,' Harry mumbled, turning away. He did not like people staring at his scar.**

Tonks flushed but didn't comment, much to Harry's relief.

Snape was once again hit with evidence to Harry's disposition and as usual he ignored it.

**'Well, you'll have to learn the hard way, I'm afraid,' said Tonks. 'Metamorphmagi are really rare, they're born, not made. **

_Ron _and _Harry_ smiled at the thought of Teddy, whose hair was bright blue and his eyes were golden. They couldn't wait for Remus and Tonks to find out about their son.

**Most wizards need to use a wand, or potions, to change their appearance. But we've got to get going, Harry, we're supposed to be packing,' she added guiltily, looking around at all the mess on the floor.**

**'Oh - yeah,' said Harry, grabbing a few more books.**

**'Don't be stupid, it'll be much quicker if I - pack!' cried Tonks, waving her wand in a long, sweeping movement over the floor.**

**Books, clothes, telescope and scales all soared into the air and flew pell-mell into the trunk.**

Tonks sighed, she'd never get the hang of that spell, much to her mother's disappointment.

**'It's not very neat,' said Tonks, walking over to the trunk and looking down at the jumble inside. 'My mum's got this knack of getting stuff to fit itself in neatly - she even gets the socks to fold themselves - but I've never mastered how she does it - it's a kind of flick - ' She flicked her wand hopefully.**

"I'll show you how to do it later if you like," Molly told her kindly. Tonks face lit up, that would make her mother's day…and maybe get her to leave Tonks alone about settling down and all that other house-wifey stuff.

"Yeah thanks Molly," she exclaimed.

**One of Harry's socks gave a feeble sort of wiggle and flopped back on top of the mess in the trunk.**

**'Ah, well,' said Tonks, slamming the trunk's lid shut, 'at least it's all in. That could do with a bit of cleaning, too.' She pointed her wand at Hedwig's cage. 'Scourgify.' A few feathers and droppings vanished. Well, that's a bit better - I've never quite got the hang of these householdy sort of spells. Right - got everything? Cauldron? Broom? **

Sirius smiled and Remus rolled his eyes, trust him to get an international standard broom stick for a teenage boy, even if it was Harry.

**Wow! - A Firebolt?'**

**Her eyes widened as they fell on the broomstick in Harry's right hand. It was his pride and joy, a gift from Sirius, an international-standard broomstick.**

_It should have been James that had bought Harry the ridiculously expensive broomstick _thought Sirius bitterly. He sighed, but since his best friend could not, Sirius had stepped in and done it for him. Remus, having guessed Sirius's train of thought, gave his shoulder a tight squeeze in comfort.

**'And I'm still riding a Comet Two Sixty,' said Tonks enviously.**

"Hey Sirius…" Tonks said sweetly, batting her eyelids.

"I'll think about it," he replied smiling. She squealed, through down the book and hugged him. He laughed as she returned to her seat beaming.

**'Ah well . . . wand still in your jeans? Both buttocks still on? OK, let's go. Locomotor trunk.'**

**Harry's trunk rose a few inches into the air. Holding her wand like a conductors baton, Tonks made the trunk hover across the room and out of the door ahead of them, Hedwig's cage in her left hand. Harry followed her down the stairs carrying his broomstick.**

**Back in the kitchen Moody had replaced his eye, which was spinning so fast after its cleaning it made Harry feel sick to look at it. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Sturgis Podmore were examining the microwave and Hestia Jones was laughing at a potato peeler **

Kingsley and Hestia both blushed as those who knew what a microwave and a potato peeler were, laughed.

**she had come across while rummaging in the drawers. Lupin was sealing a letter addressed to the Dursleys.**

**'Excellent,' said Lupin, looking up as Tonks and Harry entered. 'We've got about a minute, I think. We should probably get out into the garden so we're ready. Harry, I've left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry - '**

"They won't" grumbled Sirius.

**They won't,' said Harry.**

**' - that you're safe - '**

**That'll just depress them.'**

**- and you'll see them next summer.'**

**'Do I have to?'**

At this the entire room was laughing even Dumbledore and Moody were chuckling. The only one who didn't laugh was Snape, but as you know, he's Snape and Snape isn't one for laughing.

**Lupin smiled but made no answer.**

**'Come here, boy,' said Moody gruffly, beckoning Harry towards him with his wand. 'I need to Disillusion you.'**

**'You need to what?' said Harry nervously.**

"Don't bother Hermione," said Harry as she opened her mouth, "Moody says what it is in a second," he laughed as she glared at him.

**'Disillusionment Charm,' said Moody, raising his wand. 'Lupin says you've got an Invisibility Cloak, but it won't stay on while we're flying; this'll disguise you better. Here you go - '**

"That's not an explanation," cried Hermione.

"No, but I do work it out on my own," Harry replied.

"Oh, so you can work out your homework on your own as well then?" she said cheerfully grinning at the look on his face.

**He rapped him hard on the top of the head and Harry felt a curious sensation as though Moody had just smashed an egg there; cold trickles seemed to be running down his body from the point the wand had struck.**

"That's actually not a bad way to describe it, Harry," said Bill.

**'Nice one, Mad-Eye,' said Tonks appreciatively, staring at Harry's midriff.**

**Harry looked down at his body, or rather, what had been his body, for it didn't look anything like his anymore. It was not invisible; it had simply taken on the exact colour and texture of the kitchen unit behind him. He seemed to have become a human chameleon.**

"I suppose that's better," muttered Hermione, ignoring the smug look on Harry's face.

**'Come on,' said Moody, unlocking the back door with his wand.**

**They all stepped outside on to Uncle Vernon's beautifully kept lawn.**

**'Clear night,' grunted Moody, his magical eye scanning the heavens. 'Could've done with a bit more cloud cover. Right, you,' he barked at Harry,**

**'we're going to be flying in close formation. Tonks'll be right in front of you, keep close on her tail. Lupin'll be covering you from below. I'm going to be behind you. The rest'll be circling us. We don't break ranks for anything, got me? If one of us is killed - '**

"Don't say that Alastor!" Molly shrieked, "Harry doesn't need to hear that!"

**'Is that likely?' Harry asked apprehensively, but Moody ignored him.**

**' - the others keep flying, don't stop, don't break ranks. If they take out all of us and you survive, Harry, the rear guard are standing by to take over; keep flying east and they'll join you.'**

**'Stop being so cheerful, Mad-Eye, he'll think we're not taking this seriously,' said Tonks, as she strapped Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage into a harness hanging from her broom.**

**'I'm just telling the boy the plan,' growled Moody. 'Our job's to deliver him safely to Headquarters and if we die in the attempt - '**

**'No one's going to die,' said Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep, calming voice.**

"Thank you Kingsley, we don't need Harry panicking over nothing," said Molly looking relived that someone had the sense to reassure him.

**'Mount your brooms, that's the first signal!' said Lupin sharply, pointing into the sky.**

**Far, far above them, a shower of bright red sparks had flared among the stars. Harry recognised them at once as wand sparks. He swung his right leg over his Firebolt, gripped its handle tightly and felt it vibrating very slightly, as though it was as keen as he was to be up in the air once more.**

"You really love flying," said Arthur. Harry who was caught up in the memory didn't answer.

**'Second signal, let's go!' said Lupin loudly as more sparks, green this time, exploded high above them.**

**Harry kicked off hard from the ground. The cool night air rushed through his hair as the neat square gardens of Privet Drive fell away, shrinking rapidly into a patchwork of dark greens and blacks, and every thought of the Ministry hearing was swept from his mind as though the rush of air had blown it out of his head. He felt as though his heart was going to explode with pleasure; he was flying again, flying away from Privet Drive as he'd been fantasising about all summer, he was going home . . . for a few glorious moments, all his problems seemed to recede to nothing, insignificant in the vast, starry sky.**

Sirius smiled sadly, that was one of the things he was starting to miss the most while being trapped in Grimmauld. He would love to go flying again especially on Buckbeak, that had been amazing, if a little uncomfortable.

**'Hard left, hard left, there's a Muggle looking up!' shouted Moody from behind him. Tonks swerved and Harry followed her, watching his trunk swinging wildly beneath her broom. 'We need more height . . . give it another quarter of a mile!'**

**Harry's eyes watered in the chill as they soared upwards: he could see nothing below now but tiny pinpricks of light that were car headlights and streetlamps. Two of those tiny lights might belong to Uncle Vernon's car . . . the Dursleys would be heading back to their empty house right now, full of rage about the non-existent Lawn Competition …**

Both Harrys' laughed at the thought.

**and Harry laughed aloud at the thought, though his voice was drowned by the flapping robes of the others, the creaking of the harness holding his trunk and the cage, and the whoosh of the wind in their ears as they sped through the air. He had not felt this alive in a month, or this happy.**

**'Bearing south!' shouted Mad-Eye. Town ahead!' ****They soared right to avoid passing directly over the glittering spider's web of lights below.**

**'Bear southeast and keep climbing, there's some low cloud ahead we can lose ourselves in!' called Moody.**

**'We're not going through clouds!' shouted Tonks angrily, 'we'll get soaked, Mad-Eye!'**

"At least someone had the sense to say something!" commented Molly. It seemed that Tonks was they only one that could ever get away with telling Moody off and Molly thanked Merlin all mighty that she did.

**Harry was relieved to hear her say this; his hands were growing numb on the Firebolt's handle. He wished he had thought to put on a coat; he was starting to shiver.**

"I'm fine," Harry said firmly as Remus, Sirius, Molly and now Tonks and Emmeline were looking at him with worry. He sighed, great more people to freak out at the slightest things. He smiled, maybe he would get some aunties out of this reading, he could only hope, and maybe plot…maybe.

**They altered their course every now and then according to Mad-Eye's instructions. Harry's eyes were screwed up against the rush of icy wind that was starting to make his ears ache; he could remember being this cold on a broom only once before, during the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff in his third year, which had taken place in a storm. **

Remus, Hermione and Ron shivered at the memory of Harry falling off his broom.

**The guard around him was circling continuously like giant birds of prey. Harry lost track of time. He wondered how long they had been flying, it felt like an hour at least.**

**'Turning southwest!' yelled Moody 'We want to avoid the motorway!'**  
**Harry was now so chilled he thought longingly of the snug, dry interiors of the cars **

"Why didn't you use a car or something?" asked Harry suddenly, what Death Eater would suspect The-Boy-Who-Lived to be transported by a Muggle car?

"Because I'm the only one who had ever gotten a licence and its years out of date and I'm out of practice?" said Remus, though it sounded more like a question than a statement.

**streaming along below, then, even more longingly, of travelling by Floo powder; it might be uncomfortable to spin around in fireplaces but it was at least warm in the flames . . . Kingsley Shacklebolt swooped around him, bald pate and earring gleaming slightly in the moonlight .., now Emmeline Vance was on his right, her wand out, her head turning left and right . . . then she, too, swooped over him, to be replaced by Sturgis Podmore . . .**

"Don't get dizzy," joked Fred.

**'We ought to double back for a bit, just to make sure we're not being followed!' Moody shouted.**

**'ARE YOU MAD, MAD-EYE?' Tonks screamed from the front. 'We're all frozen to our brooms! If we keep going off-course we're not going to get there until next week! Besides, we're nearly there now!'**

"Honestly," Tonks sighed exasperated, sometimes she thought Moody really was crazy.

**'Time to start the descent!' came Lupin's voice. 'Follow Tonks, Harry!'**  
**Harry followed Tonks into a dive. They were heading for the Largest collection of lights he had yet seen, a huge, sprawling crisscrossing mass, glittering in lines and grids, interspersed with patches of deepest black. **

"That actually sounds kind of pretty when you put it like that," said Hestia

**Lower and lower they flew, until Harry could see individual headlights and streetlamps, chimneys and television aerials. He wanted to reach the ground very much, though he felt sure someone would have to unfreeze him from his broom.**

"That would have been pretty funny," laughed the Twins.

**'Here we go!' called Tonks, and a few seconds later she had landed.**

**Harry touched down right behind her and dismounted on a patch of unkempt grass in the middle of a small square Tonks was already unbuckling Harry's trunk. Shivering, Harry looked around. The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses were not welcoming; some of them had broken windows, glimmering dully in the light from the streetlamps, paint was peeling from many of the doors and heaps of rubbish lay outside several sets of front steps.**

"It looks much better in the future, there are a couple more wizarding families living there and everything," _Harry_ said. Surprisingly Neville was one of the few wizards that had taken up residence in Grimmauld place, apparently it was a temporary place that Neville had bought to stay close to his girlfriend Hannah Abbot, and he had also mentioned something from getting away from his Grandmother and baby talk. _Ron _laughed, obviously thinking the same thing.

**'Where are we?' Harry asked, but Lupin said quietly, 'In a minute.' ****Moody was rummaging in his cloak, his gnarled hands clumsy with cold.**

**'Got it,' he muttered, raising what looked like a silver cigarette lighter into the air and clicking it.**

Dumbledore smiled at the mention of his invention.

**The nearest streetlamp went out with a pop. He clicked the unlighter again; **

"It's called a Deluminator," mumbled _Ron_

**the next lamp went out; he kept clicking until every lamp in the square was extinguished and the only remaining light came from curtained windows and the sickle moon overhead.**

"That is so-" began Fred his eyes popping in awe.

"Cool!" ended George, his expression mirroring his brothers.

**'Borrowed it from Dumbledore,' growled Moody, pocketing the Put-Outer. That'll take care of any Muggles looking out of the window, see? Now come on, quick.'**

**He took Harry by the arm and led him from the patch of grass, across the road and on to the pavement; Lupin and Tonks followed, carrying Harry's trunk between them, the rest of the guard, all with their wands out, flanking them.**

"That looked really bizarre by the way," said Harry innocently.

**The muffled pounding of a stereo was coming from an upper window in the nearest house. A pungent smell of rotting rubbish came from the pile of bulging bin-bags just inside the broken gate.**

"Yeah, definitely a lot better in the future," said _Ron_ who wrinkled his nose at the reminder of the smell.

**'Here,' Moody muttered, thrusting a piece of parchment towards Harry's Disillusioned hand and holding his lit wand close to it, so as to illuminate the writing. 'Read quickly and memorise.'**

**Harry looked down at the piece of paper. The narrow handwriting was vaguely familiar. It said:**

_**The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.**_

Sirius subconsciously growled at the thought of his childhood home.

"Finished!" cried Tonks, "Who wants to read next,"

"Oh, Harry should," _Ron_ volunteered smiling wickedly. Harry would be yelling in the next chapter and even if he was yelling at _Ron_ and Hermione at the time, it wouldn't have the same effect, if it wasn't Harry yelling.

"Me?" asked Harry reluctantly.

"Course, you haven't had the chance to vent yet," _Ron _replied brightly. This comment made the room uneasy, what did he mean vent? Tonks passed Harry the book. He swallowed and opened the book to the next chapter.

"**Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.**" He read.


	7. Number Twelve Grimmauld Place

**Okay just a little background knowledge so people don't get confused. This is the chapter that has reached the point in time that the characters were up to when **_**Ron**_** and **_**Harry**_** turned up. Harry had just started yelling but was interrupted by the Twins who had been spying on the Order, then again by Molly who brought them all down stairs. I hope that makes sense.**

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you recognise in this story is the property of JKRowling.**

* * *

"What do you mean vent?" asked Molly.

"Well, you heard what Ginny said before about the yelling, this just happens to be the moment where Harry cracks and his temper kicks in," smiled _Ron_, he couldn't wait to see the looks on everyone's faces.

"It'll make you feel better, don't worry," _Harry _added seeing the look on his counterparts face.

"He had already started yelling when you called us downstairs," Hermione told Molly. Noticing that the conversation had come to a standstill, Harry began to read.

**'What's the Order of the - ?' Harry began.**

**'Not here, boy!' snarled Moody. Wait till we're inside!'**

"Calm down Moody," said Tonks

"Well let's see how calm you are when we are surrounded by Death Eaters," he glared back.

**He pulled the piece of parchment out of Harry's hand and set fire to it with his wand-tip. As the message curled into flames and floated to the ground, Harry looked around at the houses again. They were standing outside number eleven; he looked to the left and saw number ten; to the right, however, was number thirteen.**

**'But where's - ?'**

"Is it always like that?" asked Harry interrupting himself.

"Yeah, my family didn't want Muggles to come knocking, so someone along the line made the house invisible to Muggles, then my father made it unplottable so he could get away with doing Merlin knows what, right under the Ministry's nose. And now it's under the Fidelus charm so it's even harder to find," Sirius answered.

"Your family? This is your house?" Harry asked, his eyes going wide.

Sirius nodded, but before he could say anything he was interrupted by _Harry_, "It comes up later, in the next couple of chapters I think," he said.

**'Think about what you've just memorised,' said Lupin quietly.**

**Harry thought, and no sooner had he reached the part about number twelve, Grimmauld Place, than a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows.**

"Maybe we should give the outside a clean as well," muttered Molly to herself.

**It was as though an extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way. Harry gaped at it. The stereo in number eleven thudded on. Apparently the Muggles inside hadn't felt anything.**

"Of course they didn't Harry," grinned Fred

"Yeah it's not called 'magic' for nothing you know," laughed George.

**'Come on, hurry,' growled Moody, prodding Harry in the back.**

**Harry walked up the worn stone steps, staring at the newly materialised door. Its black paint was shabby and scratched. The silver doorknocker was in the form of a twisted serpent. There was no keyhole or letterbox.**

"How do you notice things like that?" asked Ron, he hadn't noticed the door knocker or the keyhole, but he supposed he wouldn't have noticed the latter or the letterbox if they weren't there anyway, and it wasn't like Wizards used letterboxes in the first place.

**Lupin, pulled out his wand and tapped the door once. Harry heard many loud, metallic clicks and what sounded like the clatter of a chain. **

"Good, good observational skills, you'd make a fine Auror Potter," Moody said as Harry flushed and _Harry_ grinned.

**The door creaked open.**

**'Get in quick, Harry,' Lupin whispered, 'but don't go far inside and don't touch anything.'**

**Harry stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. He could smell damp, dust and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a derelict building. He looked over his shoulder and saw the others filing in behind him, Lupin and Tonks carrying his trunk and Hedwig's cage. Moody was standing on the top step releasing the balls of light the Put-Outer**

"Deluminator," _Ron_ hissed.

"What was that?" Remus asked looking at _Ron_ suspiciously.

"Nothing," he replied a little too quickly.

**had stolen from the streetlamps; they flew back to their bulbs and the square glowed momentarily with orange light before Moody limped inside and closed the front door, so that the darkness in the hall became complete.**

**'Here - '**

**He rapped Harry hard over the head with his wand;**

"Alastor, there is no need to be so rough!" exclaimed Molly. Moody pulled a face at her when she wasn't looking making Tonks and Sirius snicker and Remus smile at the man's antics.

**Harry felt as though something hot was trickling down his back this time and knew that the Disillusionment Charm must have lifted.**

**'Now stay still, everyone, while I give us a bit of light in here,' Moody whispered.**

**The others' hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person. **

_Harry_ winced at the thought.

**He heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls. **

**Harry heard something scuttling behind the skirting board. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents.**

"I hate those things," Sirius muttered glaring at nothing in particular.

"Why don't you just transfigure them?" asked Hermione

"I've tried but the new shape doesn't hold even if it's a circle or something, and I can't remove them without blasting the door," he told her. _Harry_ wondered if it would be a good idea to tell Sirius how he had managed it, but decided against it when he remembered that it had been Kreacher who had ended up changing them. Maybe he would ask Kreacher as a surprise for Sirius, it would at least cheer him up a bit.

**There were hurried footsteps and Ron's mother, Mrs Weasley, emerged from a door at the far end of the hall. She was beaming in welcome as she hurried towards them, though Harry noticed that she was rather thinner and paler than she had been last time he had seen her.**

The Weasley children looked at their mother worriedly. The war was definitely taking its toll on her, and Percy's abandonment hadn't helped.

"I'm perfectly fine dears, besides I could do with losing a few pounds," Molly smiled at them. She didn't want her children to worry over her, especially when it was such an important year for Fred and George as well as Ron.

**'Oh, Harry, it's lovely to see you!' she whispered, pulling him into a rib-cracking hug before holding him at arm's length and examining him critically. 'You're looking peaky; you need feeding up, but you'll have to wait a bit for dinner, I'm afraid.'**

**She turned to the gang of wizards behind him and whispered urgently, 'He's just arrived, the meeting's started.'**

**The wizards behind Harry all made noises of interest and excitement and began filing past him towards the door through which Mrs Weasley had just come. Harry made to follow Lupin, but Mrs Weasley held him back.**

Harry ground his teeth and muttered something to himself that not even Remus could hear.

**'No, Harry, the meeting's only for members of the Order. Ron and Hermione are upstairs, you can wait with them until the meetings over, then we'll have dinner. And keep your voice down in the hall,' she added in an urgent whisper.**

**'Why?'**

**'I don't want anything to wake up.'**

"So first question, doesn't anybody want to answer?" asked Harry half expecting his future self to interrupt and tell everybody not to tell him. It was starting to annoy him that he was keeping things from himself just for the fun of it.

"The portraits," Sirius grimaced, "as well as any other _things_ that are inhabiting this house,"

Harry nodded, -_now he was getting somewhere_- and continued.

**'What d'you - ?'**

**'I'll explain later, I've got to hurry, I'm supposed to be at the meeting - I'll just show you where you're sleeping.'**

**Pressing her finger to her lips, she led him on tiptoe past a pair of long, moth-eaten curtains, behind which Harry supposed there must be another door, **

"Yeah, not quite," Remus said as a shadow passed over Sirius's face.

**and after skirting a large umbrella stand that looked as though it had been made from a severed troll's leg they started up the dark staircase, passing a row of shrunken heads mounted on plaques on the wall. A closer look showed Harry that the heads belonged to house-elves. **

Hermione made a face; it was horrible what Sirius's family had done to those poor elves.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, hoping that Hermione would not bring up S.P.E.W. any time soon.

**All of them had the same rather snout-like nose.**

**Harry's bewilderment deepened with every step he took. What on earth were they doing in a house that looked as though it belonged to the Darkest of wizards?**

"That's because it did," Sirius muttered angrily. Remus rested his hand on Sirius's shoulder and gave it a squeeze while Emmeline tighten her grip on his hand. They knew what being back in this house meant to Sirius and what it was doing to him. They could only hope that he would be able to leave soon.

**'Mrs Weasley, why -?'**

**'Ron and Hermione will explain everything, **

"You know we didn't exactly have the answers he wanted you know," said Ron as some of the Order members looked guilty.

"Sorry Pup," Sirius whispered to Harry, who smiled at him before turning back to the book.

**dear, I've really got to dash,' Mrs Weasley whispered distractedly. There - ' they had reached the second landing, ' - you're the door on the right. I'll call you when it's over.'**

**And she hurried off downstairs again.**

**Harry crossed the dingy landing, turned the bedroom doorknob, which was shaped like a serpent's head, and opened the door.**

**He caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceilinged, twin-bedded room; then there was a loud twittering noise, followed by an even louder shriek, and his vision was completely obscured by a large quantity of very bushy hair. **

"That's my description, a large quantity of very bushy hair!" Hermione shrieked.

"Don't worry 'Mione mine will be worse," said _Ron_ diverting her attention from a cowering Harry to look at the red head.

"And why is that?" she asked in a clipped voice.

"He likes me better," he laughed and dodged a pillow that she had pulled from Merlin knows where and thrown at him.

**Hermione had thrown herself on to him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat, while Ron's tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, zoomed excitedly round and round their heads.**

**'HARRY! Ron, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless - but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got things to tell us - 'the Dementors! When we heard - and that Ministry hearing - it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations - '**

Harry sucked in a large breath, "Bloody hell Hermione, don't you breathe when you talk?"

"She said that all in one go?" asked Bill in slight awe as Ron and Harry as well as their counterparts nodded.

**'Let him breathe, Hermione,' said Ron, grinning as he closed the door behind Harry. He seemed to have grown several more inches during their month apart, making him taller and more gangly looking than ever, though the long nose, bright red hair and freckles were the same.**

"See, I told you," laughed _Ron_. Ron on the other hand looked just as insulted as Hermione had.

**Still beaming, Hermione let go of Harry, but before she could say another word there was a soft whooshing sound and something white soared from the top of a dark wardrobe and landed gently on Harry's shoulder.**

**'Hedwig!'**

_Harry_ winced at the mention of his owl, he still missed her terribly and hadn't ever really found a proper replacement for her, but then again he supposed that this was because she had been, and always will be irreplaceable.

**The snowy owl clicked her beak and nibbled his ear affectionately as Harry stroked her feathers.**

**'She's been in a right state,' said Ron. 'Pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters, look at this - '**

**He showed Harry the index finger of his right hand, which sported a half-healed but clearly deep cut.**

"I still have that scar you know," glared _Ron_. _Harry_ smiled at him sheepishly, he hadn't meant for that to happen…really.

**'Oh, yeah,' Harry said. 'Sorry about that, but I wanted answers, you know - '**

**'We wanted to give them to you, mate,' said Ron. 'Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us - '**

"You know I'm starting to think that was a bad idea," Ron whispered to Hermione. She glanced between Dumbledore and Harry. She had wanted to tell Harry exactly what was going on but once Dumbledore had made them promise and she knew that she shouldn't break that promise, even for Harry especially if it kept him safe.

**'- swear not to tell me,' said Harry. 'Yeah, Hermione's already said.'**

**The warm glow that had flared inside him at the sight of his two best friends was extinguished as something icy flooded the pit of his stomach. All of a sudden - after yearning to see them for a solid month - he felt he would rather Ron and Hermione left him alone.**

Harry smiled sheepishly at his two best friends, who rolled their eyes at Harry's sudden mood swing.

**There was a strained silence in which Harry stroked Hedwig automatically, not looking at either of the others.**

**'He seemed to think it was best,' said Hermione rather breathlessly. 'Dumbledore, I mean.'**

**'Right,' said Harry. He noticed that her hands, too, bore the marks of Hedwig's beak and found that he was not at all sorry.**

"Harry!" exclaimed Molly. Harry looked down and saw Sirius's hands were also covered in bite marks and he felt a strong sense of shame and embarrassment wash over him.

"There is no need to be mean, Harry," whispered Sirius. Harry looked at him and could tell that this was something else that they would be talking about later.

**'I think he thought you were safest with the Muggles -' Ron began.**

**'Yeah?' said Harry, raising his eyebrows. 'Have either of you been attacked by Dementors this summer?'**

**'Well, no - but that's why he's had people from the Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time - '**

"I really shouldn't have said that," grimaced Ron, it was times like these he wished that he were actually more tactful, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen any time soon.

**Harry felt a great jolt in his guts as though he had just missed a step going downstairs. So everyone had known he was being followed, except him.**

**'Didn't work that well, though, did it?' said Harry, doing his utmost to keep his voice even. 'Had to look after myself after all, didn't I?'**

"As usual," Harry grumbled to himself. Sirius winced and pulled Harry against him. Taking care of Harry was supposed to be his job and so far he had been doing a pretty lousy job of it.

**'He was so angry,' said Hermione, in an almost awestruck voice. 'Dumbledore. We saw him. When he found out Mundungus had left before his shift had ended. He was scary.'**

"So were Sirius and Molly," said Tonks, Mundungus was really lucky to have walked away from that meeting, and he was still in Molly's bad books.

**'Well, I'm glad he left,' Harry said coldly 'II he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Dumbledore would probably have left me at Privet Drive all summer.'**

"You better not have," growled Sirius at Dumbledore who looked slightly flushed which did not improve Sirius's immediate opinion of him.

**'Aren't you . . . aren't you worried about the Ministry of Magic hearing?' said Hermione quietly.**

**'No,' Harry lied defiantly. He walked away from them, looking around, with Hedwig nestled contentedly on his shoulder, but this room was not likely to raise his spirits. It was dank and dark. A blank stretch of canvas in an ornate picture frame was all that relieved the bareness of the peeling walls, and as Harry passed it he thought he heard someone, who was lurking out of sight, snigger.**

**'So why's Dumbledore been so keen to keep me in the dark?'**

**Harry asked, still trying hard to keep his voice casual. 'Did you - er - bother to ask him at all?'**

**He glanced up just in time to see them exchanging a look that told him he was behaving just as they had feared he would.**

Those who did not know the golden trio personally and a few that did were quiet surprised at how well they were able to read each other.

**It did nothing to improve his temper.**

**'We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was going on,' said Ron. 'We did, mate. But he's really busy now, we've only seen him twice since we came here and he didn't have much time, he just made us swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, he said the owls might be intercepted.'**

**'He could still've kept me informed if he'd wanted to,' Harry said shortly. 'You're not telling me he doesn't know ways to send messages without owls.'**

Harry was beginning to get angry again, he understood about the owls, he really did, but if Dumbledore had known another way of sending messages, why in the name of Merlin didn't they use it? He didn't like that Dumbledore was making everything so difficult; all he wanted were some answers. He gritted his teeth, and the anger seemed to fade or at least lessen leaving Harry even more confused, why was he so angry?

**Hermione glanced at Ron and then said, 'I thought that, too. But he didn't want you to know anything.'**

**'Maybe he thinks I can't be trusted,' said Harry, watching their expressions.**

It wasn't that he didn't trust Harry, thought Dumbledore; he just didn't want to give Voldemort a reason to suspect that there was a connection between himself and Harry. This unfortunately was easier if Harry didn't know anything and so he had had to keep Harry away as long as possible.

**'Don't be thick,' said Ron, looking highly disconcerted.**

**'Or that I can't take care of myself.'**

**'Of course he doesn't think that!' said Hermione anxiously.**

**'So how come I have to stay at the Dursleys' while you two get to join in everything that's going on here?' said Harry, the words tumbling over one another in a rush, his voice growing louder with every word. 'How come you two are allowed to know everything that's going on?'**

**'We're not!' Ron interrupted. 'Mum won't let us near the meetings, she says we're too young - '**

**But before he knew it, Harry was shouting.**

Remus quickly covered his ears. If Harry was anything like James and Lily then he was going to have pretty powerful vocal cords.

**'SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! **

Harry stopped this had been where the Twins had come in telling them that Mrs Weasley had just called them downstairs and something about time travel.

"This next part is what would have been the future," he said his voice back to its normal state. "I'm still yelling so Remus, you might want to keep your ears covered," he added.

**AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT - 'WHO SAVED THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?'**

Nobody interrupted as Harry yelled, wanting to get passed this part of the book as quickly as possible. The same feelings that Harry had been experiencing earlier in the night had reared up again. This must have been what _Ron_ had meant when he said that he, Harry would get to vent and that was exactly what he was doing. He didn't care that he was surrounded by people, some of which he didn't even know. He didn't care that Mrs Weasley was looking at him in shock or that Sirius was squeezing his shoulder, trying to calm him down. He was livid.

**Every bitter and resentful thought Harry had had in the past month was pouring out of him: his frustration at the lack of news, the hurt that they had all been together without him, his fury at being followed and not told about it - all the feelings he was half-ashamed of finally burst their boundaries. **

Harry's voice was flat and cold, the emotion temporarily fading from his voice as the Order flinched at what they had done to Harry regardless of how much of it had been for his own safety.

**Hedwig took fright at the noise and soared off to the top of the wardrobe again; Pigwidgeon twittered in alarm and zoomed even faster around their heads.**

Fred and George couldn't stop themselves from snickering at the image, but stopped immediately as Harry started shouting again.

**'WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!'**

**Ron was standing there with his mouth half-open, clearly stunned and at a loss for anything to say, whilst Hermione looked on the verge of tears.**

Harry glanced around the room and noticed that this seemed to be the reaction that most people were having, even Snape looked troubled however it did nothing to quell his temper, the rage that he had been and would have been feeling took hold of him and somewhere in the back of his mind, he recognised that it was not completely all of his own emotion.

**'BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?'**

**'Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did - ' Hermione began.**

**'CAN'T'VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU'D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR - '**

"I'm sorry Harry we should have explained the situation to you and I am deeply sorry for the distress this matter has caused you," Dumbledore apologised.

Surprisingly, hearing the calm smooth voice did actually calm Harry down, he felt the outrage and anger and everything else he had been bottling up fade. He nodded, and it was with a much calmer voice that he began to read again, not quite as loudly as before.

**'Well, he did - '**

**'FOUR WEEKS I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON - '**

**'We wanted to -**

**'I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER - '**

Harry's voice broke as he came to the end of the yelling, conveying just how much being separated from his two best friends while they were together had actually hurt him. Ron and Hermione, both shaken and teary eyed –not that Ron would admit it- stood from their seats, moved around the table, pulled Harry out of Sirius's grasp and into a tight group hug.

Those sitting closest to them could hear sobbing and whispers coming from the huddled trio but where respectful enough not to pry. They separated and returned to their seats still holding hands across the table. Harry looked at his older self and _Ron_ both of whom looked solemn.

"Is that what you meant, when you said that it would make me feel better?" Harry asked.

_Harry_ smiled, "I didn't get the chance to actually talk about how I was feeling with Ron and Hermione-"

"You wouldn't have told us, he only did cause the entire room heard it," _Ron_ scoffed interrupting. Harry smacked him on the back of the head and continued,

"Anyway, as I was saying I didn't get the chance, but now it's all out in the open. So do you feel better?"

Harry smiled and nodded, he felt a lot better.

**'No, honest - '**

**'Harry, we're really sorry!' said Hermione desperately, her eyes now sparkling with tears. 'You're absolutely right, Harry - I'd be furious if it was me!'**

**Harry glared at her, still breathing deeply, then turned away from them again, pacing up and down. Hedwig hooted glumly from the top of the wardrobe. There was a long pause, broken only by the mournful creak of the floorboards below Harry's feet.**

**'What is this place, anyway?' he shot at Ron and Hermione.**

Harry brightened his mood significantly lighter, he was about to get some of the answers he wanted.

**'Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix,' said Ron at once.**

**'Is anyone going to bother telling me what the Order of the Phoenix - ?'**

**'It's a secret society,' said Hermione quickly 'Dumbledore's in charge, he founded it. **

**It's the people who fought against You-Know-Who last time.'**

"You mean like my parents?" Harry asked quickly turning his head to look at Sirius.

"Yeah, they were in it, Emmeline here was in it too," said Sirius indicating the woman next to him who Harry had just noticed still had her hand untwined with Sirius's.

**'Who's in it?' said Harry coming to a halt with his hands in his pockets.**

**'Quite a few people - '**

**'We've met about twenty of them,' said Ron, 'but we think there are more.'**

**Harry glared at them.**

**'Well?' he demanded, looking from one to the other.**

"Harry not matter how good we are at reading your face we are not actually mind readers!" scolded Hermione.

**'Er,' said Ron. 'Well what?'**

**'Voldemort!' said Harry furiously, and both Ron and Hermione winced. 'What's happening? What's he up to? Where is he? What are we doing to stop him?'**

**'We've told you, the Order don't let us in on their meetings,' said Hermione nervously **

**'So we don't know the details - but we've got a general idea,' she added hastily, seeing the look on Harry's face.**

**'Fred and George have invented Extendable Ears, see,' said Ron. They're really useful.'**

Fred and George were sinking down in their seats, as Molly glared at them.

**'Extendable - ?'**

**'Ears, yeah. Only we've had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and went berserk. Fred and George had to hide them all to stop Mum binning them. But we got a good bit of use out of them before Mum realised what was going on. We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them, you know - '**

"That actually sounds pretty good," said Moody looking at the Twins and ignoring the glare from Molly, "Do you reckon you could spare a few, they could be relatively useful," he said looking to Tonks and Kingsley.

"What do you mean Mad-Eye?" asked Tonks not one hundred per cent sure we he was heading with his train of thought.

"Well if these kids could find out that much from us with those things, how much do you reckon we could find out at the Ministry," he told them smiling gruffly.

"They would have to be inconspicuous maybe put a disillusion charm on them, but the idea has merit," said Kingsley nodding.

"Well we would give them to you but Mum got rid of them all, the ones we've been using are some of our last ones," Fred told them as Molly glared at Moody slightly flushed.

**'Some of them are working on recruiting more people to the Order - ' said Hermione.**

**'And some of them are standing guard over something,' said Ron. They're always talking about guard duty.'**

**'Couldn't have been me, could it?' said Harry sarcastically.**

"Not quite," commented _Ron_ but was silent when his mother glared at him. The trio glanced at each other, knowing they were thinking the same thing, _if they weren't guarding just Harry, what else could it possibly be?_

**'Oh, yeah,' said Ron, with a look of dawning comprehension.**

**Harry snorted. He walked around the room again, looking anywhere but at Ron and Hermione. 'So, what have you two been doing, if you're not allowed in meetings?' he demanded. 'You said you'd been busy.'**

**'We have,' said Hermione quickly. 'We've been decontaminating this house, it's been empty for ages and stuff's been breeding in here. We've managed to clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms and I think we're doing the drawing room tomo- **

"We should fix it up before we leave in the morning, that way they can sit in there where it is more comfortable," _Harry_ suggested to _Ron_ who nodded.

**AARGH!'**

**With two loud cracks, Fred and George, Ron's elder twin brothers, had materialised out of thin air in the middle of the room. Pigwidgeon twittered more wildly than ever and zoomed off to join Hedwig on top of the wardrobe.**

Molly sighed, was it too much to ask for her son's to be responsible in using their magic, instead of scaring everyone half to death?

**'Stop doing that!' Hermione said weakly to the twins, who were as vividly red-haired as Ron, though stockier and slightly shorter.**

"Thanks Harry, we love it," the Twins said sarcastically.

**'Hello, Harry' said George, beaming at him. 'We thought we heard your dulcet tones.'**

**'You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry, let it all out,' said Fred, also beaming. There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you.'**

**'You two passed your Apparation tests, then?' asked Harry grumpily.**

**'With distinction,' said Fred, who was holding what looked like a piece of very long, flesh-coloured string.**

Molly glared at her boys and they sunk further into their seats.

**'It would have taken you about thirty seconds longer to walk down the stairs,' said Ron.**

**'Time is Galleons, little brother,' said Fred. 'Anyway, Harry, you're interfering with reception. Extendable Ears,' he added in response to Harry's raised eyebrows, and held up the string which Harry now saw was trailing out on to the landing. 'We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs.'**

"Of course you are," muttered Molly as Arthur chuckled at Molly's exasperation.

**'You want to be careful,' said Ron, staring at the Ear, 'if Mum sees one of them again…'**

**'It's worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having,' said red.**

**The door opened and a long mane of red hair appeared.**

**'Oh, hello, Harry!' said Ron's younger sister, **

Ginny frowned was she going to be the younger sister forever? Hermione leaned over and whispered, "It's fine Ginny, it's just an introduction," Ginny smiled back feeling better, she guessed she wasn't quite as over Harry as she thought.

**Ginny, brightly. 'I thought I heard your voice.'**

**Turning to Fred and George, she said, 'Its no-go with the Extendable Ears, she's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door.'**

"How do you know that?" exclaimed Molly while Tonks tried to blend in with the background, which actually kind of worked.

**'How d'you know?' said George, looking crestfallen.**

**'Tonks told me how to find out,' said Ginny. **

"Nymphadora!" cried Molly turning to look at Tonks who had been blending in with her surroundings, but changed back at the sound of her name. She blushed and muttered,

"Sorry," it wasn't her fault she thought they should know some of what was going on and she knew that Remus, Sirius and Mad-Eye felt the same.

**'You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap.'**

**Fred heaved a deep sigh.**

**'Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to.'**

Snape glared at them.

**'Snape!' said Harry quickly. 'Is he here?'**

**'Yeah,' said George, carefully closing the door and sitting down on one of the beds; Fred and Ginny followed. 'Giving a report. Top secret.'**

"And unless you are in the Order it's going to stay a secret," he sneered send Sirius a warning glare who raised his hands in surrender,

"They don't need to know all the boring stuff you go on about," he said innocently making Snape glare even more.

**'Git,' said Fred idly**

**'He's on our side now,' said Hermione reprovingly.**

"Like that makes him any better," muttered Sirius.

**Ron snorted. 'Doesn't stop him being a git. The way he looks at us when he sees us.'**

**'Bill doesn't like him, either,' said Ginny, as though that settled the matter.**

Bill looked a little sheepish as Snape turned his glare on him.

**Harry was not sure his anger had abated yet; but his thirst for information was now overcoming his urge to keep shouting. **

Sirius and Remus laughed, "That's how it worked with Lily," chuckled Remus. Snape was conflicted, that was exactly how Lily used to get when she was angry about something and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't deny it. Dumbledore smiled slightly at the look on Severus's face, maybe these books would finally dispel the age old grudge that Snape carried about James and the real reason Snape disliked both him and Harry so much.

**He sank on to the bed opposite the others.**

**'Is Bill here?' he asked. 'I thought he was working in Egypt?'**

**'He applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order,' said Fred. **

**'He says he misses the tombs, but,' he smirked, 'there are compensations.'**

Bill had now turned bright red. Molly whipped her head around so fast it made her head spin,

"Bill?" she asked but he didn't answer.

**'What d'you mean?'**

**'Remember old Fleur Delacour?' said George. 'She's got a job at Gringotts to eemprove 'er Eeenglish -**

**'And Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons,' sniggered Fred.**

Molly didn't know what to think. She knew that her son had always had an interest in adventure which always seemed to somehow link into an interest in glamorous women. She just hoped that Bill was not setting himself up for heartbreak should she not be interested, or at least not an air head as all the other girls Bill had dated were.

**'Charlie's in the Order, too,' said George, 'but he's still in Romania. Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off.'**

**'Couldn't Percy do that?' Harry asked. **

At the sudden mention of her son's name Molly felt tears come to her eyes and Arthur tense beside her. Harry, who was quite confused at the reactions to Percy, looked up at Ron, but he (along with the Twins and Ginny) was glaring at the book. He turned to Hermione and was about to ask when she mouthed 'keep reading' to him.

**The last he had heard, the third Weasley brother was working in the Department of International Magical Co-operation at the Ministry of Magic.**

**At Harry's words, all the Weasleys and Hermione exchanged darkly significant looks.**

**'Whatever you do, don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad,' Ron told Harry in a tense voice.**

**'Why not?'**

**'Because every time Percy's name's mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying,' Fred said.**

Arthur and Molly frowned, they had been trying to keep their emotions in check in front of their other children, but unfortunately it seemed as though it wasn't working.

**'It's been awful,' said Ginny sadly.**

**'I think we're well shot of him,' said George, with an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face.**

"Thanks Harry," murmured George attempting at a joke but failing miserably. The rest of the room felt somewhat awkward.

**'What's happened?' Harry said.**

**'Percy and Dad had a row,' said Fred. 'I've never seen Dad row with anyone like that. It's normally Mum who shouts.'**

"Yeah that's what people used to say about Moony here, but if you do something to really piss him off-" Sirius winced as he remembered what he had done to get Remus that mad. At the same time Molly had shouted at him for swearing, but he ignored her and finished "if you do, do something like that well, let's just say it isn't pleasant."

**'It was the first week back after term ended,' said Ron. 'We were about to come and join the Order. Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted.'**

**'You're kidding?' said Harry.**

**Though he knew perfectly well that Percy was highly ambitious, Harry's impression was that Percy had not made a great success of his first job at the Ministry of Magic. Percy had committed the fairly large oversight of failing to notice that his boss was being controlled by Lord Voldemort (not that the Ministry had believed it - they all thought Mr Crouch had gone mad).**

Harry flushed but didn't say anything, he just read as fast as he could as he had done in the first half of the chapter, hoping it wouldn't get much worse.

**'Yeah, we were all surprised,' said George, 'because Percy got into a load of trouble about Crouch, there was an inquiry and everything. They said Percy ought to have realised Crouch was off his rocker and informed a superior. But you know Percy, Crouch left him in charge, he wasn't going to complain.'**

**'So how come they promoted him?'**

**That's exactly what we wondered,' said Ron, who seemed very keen to keep normal conversation going now that Harry had stopped yelling. 'He came home really pleased with himself - 'even more pleased than usual, if you can imagine that - and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Fudge's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out of Hogwarts: Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think.'**

"You are in the future," _Ron_ told his father quietly. Percy had really been changed by the war as well as Fred's death. He was still the Junior Assistant and was still set on one day being the Head or even Minister if Kingsley retired but he wasn't over the top any more, he could joke and wasn't such a stickler for the rules.

"What changed?" asked Arthur glad to know that he would be able to be proud of his son in the future. _Ron_ didn't think he would be able to say anything it came to close to Fred's death and he didn't want to say it. _Harry_ put his arm around _Ron_ before turning to look at Arthur who had a reserved sort of dread look on his face and said,

"You'll see." Arthur wanted to know more but seeing the look on _Ron's _face he didn't, he let it go to be brought up at the right moment. Harry cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention and went back to the book.

**'Only Dad wasn't,' said Fred grimly.**

**'Why not?' said Harry.**

**'Well, apparently Fudge has been storming round the Ministry checking that nobody's having any contact with Dumbledore,' said George.**

**'Dumbledore's name is mud with the Ministry these days, see,' said Fred. They all think he's just making trouble saying You-Know-Who's back.'**

"How can he say that?" exclaimed Harry his anger returning.

**'Dad says Fudge has made it clear that anyone who's in league with Dumbledore can clear out their desks,' said George.**

**Trouble is, Fudge suspects Dad, he knows he's friendly with Dumbledore, and he's always thought Dad's a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession.'**

"There is nothing wrong with it," said Molly fiercely so what if he thought Muggles were interesting.

**'But what's that got to do with Percy?' asked Harry, confused.**

**'I'm coming to that. Dad reckons Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy on the family - and Dumbledore.'**

"That's not entirely true," stated _Ron_. Percy had told him everything that had happen to him in the years that he wasn't speaking to them. He had told him that the other reason that Fudge had kept Percy was because he believed that the Ministry was so infallible that he was easily manipulated into doing anything Fudge had wanted.

**Harry let out a low whistle.**

**'Bet Percy loved that.'**

**Ron laughed in a hollow sort of way.**

**'He went completely berserk. He said - well, he said loads of terrible stuff. He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been - you know - 'not had a lot of money, I mean - '**

"If you are happy where you that doesn't mean you don't have any ambition," said Kingsley, his smooth voice calming some of the room.

**'What?' said Harry in disbelief, as Ginny made a noise like an angry cat.**

Ginny blinked then blushed, she had sounded like an angry cat?

**'I know,' said Ron in a low voice. 'And it got worse. He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he - Percy - knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family any more. And he packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now.'**

**Harry swore under his breath. He had always liked Percy least of Ron's brothers,**

Harry didn't apologise and Mr and Mrs Weasley hadn't seemed to have heard what he had just read.

**but he had never imagined he would say such things to Mr Weasley.**

**'Mums been in a right state,' said Ron dully. 'You know - crying and stuff. She came up to London to try and talk to Percy but he slammed the door in her face. I dunno what he does if he meets Dad at work - ignores him, I s'pose.'**

"Something like that," Arthur grimaced.

**'But Percy must know Voldemort's back,' said Harry slowly. 'He's not stupid, he must know your mum and dad wouldn't risk everything without proof.'**

**'Yeah, well, your name got dragged into the row,' said Ron, shooting Harry a furtive look. 'Percy said the only evidence was your word and . . . I dunno . . . he didn't think it was good enough.'**

**'Percy takes the Daily Prophet seriously,' said Hermione tartly, and the others all nodded.**

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Harry confused.

**'What are you talking about?' Harry asked, looking around at them all. They were all regarding him warily.**

Just as they were doing in the room now when had glanced up from the book.

**'Haven't - haven't you been getting the Daily Prophet?' Hermione asked nervously.**

**'Yeah, I have!' said Harry.**

**'Have you - er - been reading it thoroughly?' Hermione asked, still more anxiously.**

**'Not cover to cover,' said Harry defensively. 'If they were going to report anything about Voldemort it would be headline news, wouldn't it?'**

"What else matters?" Harry asked again, but nobody seemed to want to answer him.

**The others flinched at the sound of the name. Hermione hurried on, 'Well, you'd need to read it cover to cover to pick it up, but they - um - they mention you a couple of times a week.'**

**'But I'd have seen - '**

**'Not if you've only been reading the front page, you wouldn't,' said Hermione, shaking her head. 'I'm not talking about big articles. They just slip you in, like you're a standing joke.'**

**'What d'you - ?'**

**'It's quite nasty, actually,' said Hermione in a voice of forced calm. They're just building on Rita's stuff.'**

**'But she's not writing for them anymore, is she?'**

**'Oh, no, she's kept her promise - not that she's got any choice,' Hermione added with satisfaction.**

Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. What do you mean what promise?" Sirius asked Hermione who grinned proudly.

"I found out how she was getting all of her information for those articles last year," she said still grinning.

"How?"

"She's an Animagus, she can turn into a beetle. Hermione caught her and threatened to report her if she didn't stop writing stories about people," said Ron who was also grinning.

"Blackmail, nice," laughed Sirius. Molly didn't know what to say Hermione of all people was blackmailing someone, even if it was Skeeter. _The world has gone mad!_

**'But she laid the foundation for what they're trying to do now.'**

**'Which is what?' said Harry impatiently.**

**'OK, you know she wrote that you were collapsing all over the place and saying your scar was hurting and all that?'**

"Yeah," said Harry warily.

"Harry, you know-" said George looking amused

"You're talking to a book," said Fred.

"Right?" they laughed together. People around the room laughed at the Twins antics effectively relieving the tension.

**'Yeah,' said Harry, who was not likely to forget Rita Skeeter's stories about him in a hurry.**

**'Well, they're writing about you as though you're this deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero or something,' said Hermione, very fast, as though it would be less unpleasant for Harry to hear these facts quickly. 'They keep slipping in snide comments about you. If some far-fetched story appears, they say something like, "A tale worthy of Harry Potter", and if anyone has a funny accident or anything it's, "Let's hope he hasn't got a scar on his forehead or we'll be asked to worship him next" - '**

Sirius and Remus growled, how dare those people make fun of Harry and how dare Fudge encourage it, he was just a boy and had done nothing to deserve it!

**'I don't want anyone to worship - ' Harry began hotly.**

Harry's temper flared and he growled, almost sounding like Padfoot would have.

**'I know you don't,' said Hermione quickly, looking frightened. 'I know, Harry. But you see what they're doing? They want to turn you into someone nobody will believe. Fudge is behind it, I'll bet anything. They want wizards on the street to think you're just some stupid boy who's a bit of a joke, who tells ridiculous tall stories because he loves being famous and wants to keep it going.'**

"Idiot," Moody grumbled "He should be warning people to be on the lookout for suspicious looking individuals and groups not printing slander about a fifteen year old."

**'I didn't ask - I didn't want - Voldemort killed my parents!' Harry spluttered. 'I got famous because he murdered my family but couldn't kill me! Who wants to be famous for that? Don't I hey think I'd rather it'd never- '**

Snape was once again hit with a wave of…something…pity maybe…sympathy? He didn't want to believe that Potter was anything other than his father's son but this book was making it hard and making him think of Lily so much it hurt.

**'We know, Harry' said Ginny earnestly.**

**'And of course, they didn't report a word about the Dementors attacking you,' said Hermione. 'Someone's told them to keep that quiet. That should've been a really big story, out-of-control Dementors. They haven't even reported that you broke the International Statute of Secrecy. We thought they would, it would be in so well with this image of you as some stupid show-off. We think they're biding their time until you're expelled, then they're really going to go to town - I mean, if you're expelled, obviously,' she went on hastily. 'You really shouldn't be, not if they abide by their own laws, there's no case against you.'**

"It won't stop them from trying," said Remus grimly.

**They were back on the hearing and Harry did not want to think about that. He cast around for another change of subject, but was saved the necessity of finding one by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.**

**'Uh oh.'**

**Fred gave the Extendable Ear a hearty tug; there was another loud crack and he and George vanished. Seconds later, Mrs Weasley appeared in the bedroom doorway.**

**The meetings over, you can come down and have dinner now. Everyone's dying to see you, Harry. And who's left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?'**

Molly glared at Ginny as well as Tonks not really sure how she should be glaring at more.

**'Crookshanks,' said Ginny unblushingly. 'He loves playing with them.'**

"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" screeched Molly "How dare you lie to me," Ginny blushed and looking properly chastised stared at the table. Harry was surprised, not that Ginny had lied, that this was the first time that he had heard Ginny's full name in the four years he had known her (first year didn't count).

**'Oh,' said Mrs Weasley, 'I thought it might have been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that. Now don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall. Ginny, your hands are filthy, what have you been doing? Go and wash them before dinner, please.'**

The Twins, Ron and Harry snickered while Hermione tried to look disproving while trying not to smile. Molly glared further at her daughter.

**Ginny grimaced at the others and followed her mother out of the room, leaving Harry alone with Ron and Hermione. Both of them were watching him apprehensively, as though they feared he would start shouting again now that everyone else had gone. The sight of them looking so nervous made him feel slightly ashamed.**

And as he read it, the feeling washed over him, how could he have yelled at his friends like that? He was horrible, the worst friend ever!

"Don't even try to apologise Harry," said Hermione sternly when he opened his mouth to do just that.

"Yeah, we deserved it, well not the whole you-setting-your-owl-on-us thing but the rest of it, you just needed to let out," Ron added.

"That sounded really wise Ron," said Bill teasingly. Ron pouted and stuck out his tongue. He tries to say one nice thing and they tease him about it, well, next time he just won't say it.

**'Look . . .' he muttered, but Ron shook his head, and Hermione said quietly, 'We knew you'd be angry, Harry, we really don't blame you, but you've got to understand, we did try to persuade Dumbledore -**

**'Yeah, I know,' said Harry shortly.**

**He cast around for a topic that didn't involve his headmaster, because the very thought of Dumbledore made Harry's insides burn with anger again.**

Dumbledore sighed, he had hoped that this plan of his wouldn't hurt Harry's opinion of him too much but he wasn't going to hold his breath.

**Who's Kreacher?' he asked.**

**The house-elf who lives here,' said Ron. 'Nutter. Never met one like him.'**

"He's brilliant," _Ron _whispered to _Harry_ smiling.

**Hermione frowned at Ron.**

**'He's not a nutter, Ron.'**

**'His life's ambition is to have his head cut off and stuck up on plaque just like his mother,' said Ron irritably. 'Is that normal, Hermione?'**

"Well no but, it's not his fault," Hermione said and Harry snickered before reading,

**'Well - well, if he is a bit strange, it's not his fault.'**

Now Ron laughed as well at the Hermione-ish answer.

**Ron rolled his eyes at Harry.**

**'Hermione still hasn't given up on SPEW.'**

"Ah SPEW, you will be sorely missed," said _Ron_ reminiscently as _Harry_ placed his hand over his heart before bursting out in laugher.

"I-I don't give up do I?" asked Hermione worriedly.

"No but you've had a name change. After we got out of school you went into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and from there you made a sub-department called…" he cleared his throat dramatically, "The Department for Elfish Equality and the Promotion of Equal Rights, but everybody calls it D.E.E.P.E.R." He finished as Hermione beamed blown away by how much people seemed to embrace her ideas.

Dumbledore as well as many others around the room where extremely impressed with what Hermione had done with her idea within a year of completing her education, they could only hope though that she had dropped trying to free all the elves as she had been tell everyone.

**'It's not SPEW!' said Hermione heatedly. 'It's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. And it's not just me, Dumbledore says we should be kind to Kreacher too.'**

**'Yeah, yeah,' said Ron. 'C'mon, I'm starving.'**

"You've had a turnaround then," said Fred teasingly to _Ron_.

"Yeah well there were three particular House Elves that we had met that really got it going," _Ron_ said thinking of Kreacher, Winky and poor Dooby.

**He led the way out of the door and on to the landing, but be ore they could descend the stairs - '**

**'Hold it!' Ron breathed, flinging out an arm to stop Harry and Hermione walking any further. They're still in the hall, we might be able to hear something.'**

"Good reflexes Weasley, you seem to have the makings of a great Auror as well," Moody told Ron who beamed at the compliment.

**The three of them looked cautiously over the banisters. The gloomy hallway below was packed with witches and wizards, including all of Harry's guard. They were whispering excitedly together. In the very centre of the group Harry saw the dark, greasy-haired head and prominent nose of his least favourite teacher at Hogwarts, Professor Snape. Harry leant further over the banisters. He was very interested in what Snape was doing for the Order of the Phoenix . . .**

Snape rolled his eyes. It was none of Potter's business and was going to say so until he saw _Potter_ smirking at him.

**A thin piece of flesh-coloured string descended in front of Harry's eyes. Looking up, he saw Fred and George on the landing above, cautiously lowering the Extendable Ear towards the dark knot of people below. A moment later, however, they all began to move towards the front door and out of sight.**

"Damn," swore Fred avoiding his mother's gaze.

**'Dammit,' Harry heard Fred whisper, as he hoisted the Extendable Ear back up again.**

**They heard the front door open, then close.**

**'Snape never eats here,' Ron told Harry quietly. Thank God. C'mon.'**

**'And don't forget to keep your voice down in the hall, Harry,' Hermione whispered.**

**As they passed the row of house-elf heads on the wall, they saw Lupin, Mrs Weasley and Tonks at the front door, magically sealing its many locks and bolts behind those who had just left.**

**'We're eating down in the kitchen,' Mrs Weasley whispered, meeting them at the bottom of the stairs. 'Harry, dear, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall it's through this door here - '**

**CRASH.**

**'Tonks!' cried Mrs Weasley in exasperation, turning to look behind her.**

Sirius and Remus laughed as Tonks blushed.

**'I'm sorry!' wailed Tonks, who was lying flat on the floor. 'It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over - '**

**But the rest of her words were drowned by a horrible, ear-splitting, blood-curdling screech.**

Sirius groaned and Harry was puzzled.

**The moth-eaten velvet curtains Harry had passed earlier had flown apart, but there was no door behind them. For a split second, Harry thought he was looking through a window, a window behind which an old woman in a black cap was screaming and screaming as though she were being tortured**

"I wish," Sirius mumbled to himself.

**- then he realised it was simply a life-size portrait, but the most realistic, and the most unpleasant, he had ever seen in his life.**

**The old woman was drooling, her eyes were rolling, the yellowing skin of her face stretched taut as she screamed; and all along the hall behind them, the other portraits awoke and began to yell, too, so that Harry actually screwed up his eyes at the noise and clapped his hands over his ears.**

"She sounds lovely," said Harry and Sirius snorted next to him.

**Lupin and Mrs Weasley darted forward and tried to tug the curtains shut over the old woman, but they would not close and she screeched louder than ever, brandishing clawed hands as though trying to tear at their faces.**

**'Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers - '**

**Tonks apologised over and over again, dragging the huge, heavy troll's leg back off the floor; Mrs Weasley abandoned the attempt to close the curtains and hurried up and down the hall, Stunning all the other portraits with her wand; and a man with long black hair came charging out of a door facing Harry.**

"Long black hair that's it?" said Sirius flatly and Harry shrugged.

**'Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!' he roared, seizing the curtain Mrs Weasley had abandoned.**

**The old woman's face blanched.**

"She always looks so pleased to see me," Sirius said bitterly.

**'Yoooou!' she howled, her eyes popping at the sight of the man. 'Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!'**

"Shut up you stupid old hag!" Sirius growled at the book.

**'I said - shut - UP!' roared the man, and with a stupendous effort he and Lupin managed to force the curtains closed again.**

"That reminds me, how _did_ the two of you manage to close it before?" asked Remus curiously.

"I don't really know how I do it, I kind of just point my wand and BANG the curtains close and she shuts up," said _Harry_ shrugging.

"You'll have to show us later," said Remus sounding very interested in how _Harry_ had done it.

**The old woman's screeches died and an echoing silence fell. Panting slightly and sweeping his long dark hair out of his eyes, Harry's godfather Sirius turned to face him.**

**'Hello, Harry,' he said grimly, 'I see you've met my mother.'**

"Lovely entrance as always Padfoot," Remus laughed.

"I am rather good at them aren't I?" Sirius smiled back trying to sound upbeat.

"That's your _mother_?" asked Harry incredulously putting down the book to look at his Godfather.

"Unfortunately," Sirius sighed.

"So who wants to read next?" asked Harry

"I will," volunteered Arthur. He took the book off Harry and opened it to the right page. It was the last chapter before bed and from the title Arthur could already tell it was going to be an interesting end to the night. He swallowed, licked his lips and read "**The Order of the Phoenix.**"


	8. The Order of the Pheonix

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling. Thank you to everyone that has favourited/followed this story just looking at the number of views for each chapter makes me smile.**

* * *

The Order of the Phoenix

**'Your - ?'**

**'My dear old mum, yeah,' said Sirius. 'We've been trying to get her down for a month but we think she put a Permanent. Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Let's get downstairs, quick, before they all wake up again.'**

"You don't happen to know how to get her down do you?" asked Sirius, _Harry_ frowned; he didn't really want to go into the whole mess removing that one portrait had made. It had taken _Hermione_, _Ron_ and himself a whole day, several severing charms, a couple of explosions as well as a lot of help from Kreacher before they were finally able to relocate the portrait to the attic, because as usual, Kreacher wouldn't let them throw it out. But he would have to tell Sirius eventually, so _Harry_ went with the safe answer,

"I'll tell you later."

**'But what's a portrait of your mother doing here?' Harry asked, bewildered, as they went through the door from the hall and led the way down a flight of narrow stone steps, the others just behind them.**

**'Hasn't anyone told you?**

"No, nobody told me anything…shouldn't be surprised…when does that ever happen anyway…" grumbled Harry to himself angrily. Remus, who could hear exactly what the boy was grumbling shot Sirius a look, who in turn poked Harry in the ribs, causing him to stop before he could get too worked up about it and glare at his godfather.

**This was my parents' house,' said Sirius. 'But I'm the last Black left, so it's mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for Headquarters - about the only useful thing I've been able to do.'**

Now it was Sirius's turn to grumble something unintelligible, a dark look crossing his face.

**Harry, who had expected a better welcome,**

"Sorry Harry, I probably had a lot on my mind, but I am ecstatic to see you," Sirius whispered to Harry, who nodded and smiled in return,

"It's good to see you too," Harry replied quietly.

**noted how hard and bitter Sirius's voice sounded.**

Remus grimaced, he knew Sirius hated the feeling of being useless, it had been the same during the first war, only he was able to be out in the open, taking the Death Eaters head on, whereas this time, he couldn't really do anything.

**He followed his godfather to the bottom of the steps and through a door leading into the basement kitchen.**

**It was scarcely less gloomy than the hall above, a cavernous room with rough stone walls. Most of the light was coming from a large fire at the far end of the room. **

"Maybe you should invest in some really bright lights, aye Sirius," suggested George.

Arthur's eyes lit up, "Oh yes, maybe you could get some of those Muggle lights that run on elektrizity," he said sounding excited. Sirius almost laughed at the man's enthusiasm,

"I'll think about it," he said as Arthur turned back to the book.

**A haze of pipe smoke hung in the air like battle fumes, through which loomed the menacing shapes of heavy iron pots and pans hanging from the dark ceiling. Many chairs had been crammed into the room for the meeting and a long wooden table stood in the middle of them, littered with rolls of parchment, goblets, empty wine bottles, and a heap of what appeared to be rags. Mr Weasley and his eldest son Bill were talking quietly with their heads together at the end of the table.**

**Mrs Weasley cleared her throat. Her husband, a thin, balding, red-haired man who wore horn-rimmed glasses,**

At reading his description, Arthur ran his hand through his hair ruefully, was he really loosing that much of his hair?

**looked around and jumped to his feet.**

**'Harry!' Mr Weasley said, hurrying forward to greet him, and shaking his hand vigorously. 'Good to see you!'**

**Over his shoulder Harry saw Bill, who still wore his long hair in a ponytail, **

"You should really let me give you a haircut dear," said Molly, while Bill rolled his eyes,

"I like my hair how it is Mum," he told her as she frowned thinking about the ridiculous hair lengths her boys seemed to have these days.

**hastily rolling up the lengths of parchment left on the table.**

Molly then glared at Bill who was smiling sheepishly, all thought of hair gone as she scolded him, "That should have already been away young man."

**'Journey all right, Harry?' Bill called, trying to gather up twelve scrolls at once. 'Mad-Eye didn't make you come via Greenland, then?'**

**'He tried,' said Tonks, striding over to help Bill and immediately toppling a candle on to the last piece of parchment. 'Oh no - sorry - '**

Tonks blushed as Sirius laughed and Remus snickered next to her, trying to keep a straight face. It was strange how much she had heard him laugh in the last few hours considering she had thought him to be quite serious. It was a side to him that seemed to shine, making him look far younger than his thirty-five years of age. He caught her eyes and held them for a minute still smiling at her, then realised what he was doing, and much to her disappointment, turned away.

**'Here, dear,' said Mrs Weasley, sounding exasperated, and she repaired the parchment with a wave of her wand. In the flash of light caused by Mrs Weasley's charm Harry caught a glimpse of what looked like the plan of a building.**

Molly glared at her son again; Harry did not need to see that.

**Mrs Weasley had seen him looking. She snatched the plan off the table and stuffed it into Bill's already overladen arms.**

**This sort of thing ought to be cleared away promptly at the end of meetings,' she snapped, before sweeping off towards an ancient dresser from which she started unloading dinner plates.**

"Sorry Mum," Bill muttered and the Twins, Ron, Ginny and _Ron_ laughed at his expression which was a mixture of annoyance and humour, rather than being properly chastised.

**Bill took out his wand, muttered, 'Evanesce!' and the scrolls vanished.**

**'Sit down, Harry' said Sirius. 'You've met Mundungus, haven't you?'**

**The thing Harry had taken to be a pile of rags gave a prolonged, grunting snore, then jerked awake.**

**'Some'n say m'name?' Mundungus mumbled sleepily. 'I agree with Sirius . . .' **

"Hmm, he's been saying that a lot lately," Sirius mused as Ginny and Hermione giggled,

"It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with all that threatening you did the other night does it?" asked Remus dryly, Sirius seemed to consider this for a moment before smiling wickedly at Remus and saying,

"I have no idea what you are referring to Mr Moony." The Twins looked at each other Mr Moony? They then turned to look at Remus, _no_, not the mild mannered professor, it couldn't be.

**He raised a very grubby hand in the air as though voting, his droopy, bloodshot eyes unfocused.**

**Ginny giggled.**

**The meeting's over, Dung,' said Sirius, as they all sat down around him at the table. 'Harry's arrived.'**

"No thanks to you," growled Sirius at the book.

**'Eh?' said Mundungus, peering bale fully at Harry through his matted ginger hair. 'Blimey, so 'e 'as. Yeah . . . you all right, 'Airy?'**

**'Yeah,' said Harry.**

**Mundungus fumbled nervously in his pockets, still staring at Harry, and pulled out a grimy black pipe. **

Emmeline wrinkled her nose and glared at the mention of Mundungus as well as the pipe; Sirius turned to her and whispered,

"Calm down Love, he isn't actually here at the moment," he said soothingly. Emmeline frowned there it was again, _Love_, but did he mean it the way she wanted him too or was it just an old endearment to him, after all a lot of things had happened in the last fourteen years.

He frowned at the look on her face, "Is something the matter?" he asked worried he had done something wrong. She shook her head, no. She could tell he didn't believe her, but he let it drop and turned his attention back to Arthur, having missed the rest of the paragraph.

**He stuck it in his mouth, ignited the end of it with his wand and took a deep pull on it. Great billowing clouds of greenish smoke obscured him within seconds.**

**'Owe you a 'pology,' grunted a voice from the middle of the smelly cloud.**

**'For the last time, Mundungus,' called Mrs Weasley, 'will you please not smoke that thing in the kitchen, especially not when we're about to eat!'**

"Every time, I tell him, every time, but he just keeps on doing it," Molly muttered and Arthur chuckled next to her.

**'Ah,' said Mundungus. 'Right. Sorry, Molly.'**

**The cloud of smoke vanished as Mundungus stowed his pipe back in his pocket, but an acrid smell of burning socks lingered.**

Hermione wrinkled her nose that smell was disgusting and there was no way it was good for anybody's health.

**'And if you want dinner before midnight I'll need a hand,' Mrs Weasley said to the room at large. 'No, you can stay where you are, Harry dear, you've had a long journey.'**

**'What can I do, Molly?' said Tonks enthusiastically, bounding forwards.**

**Mrs Weasley hesitated, looking apprehensive.**

Tonks frowned "Sorry, dear," said Molly she didn't mean to be rude it was just better if Tonks stayed still while she was in the Kitchen.

"No, no, it's fine Molly, really," said Tonks smiling slightly but still frowning.

**'Er - no, it's all right, Tonks, you have a rest too, you've done enough today.'**

**'No, no, I want to help!' said Tonks brightly, knocking over a chair as she hurried towards the dresser, from which Ginny was collecting cutlery.**

Tonks winced, and blushed faintly. Remus decided to take a chance, and before he could change his mind, murmured in her ear, "I think it's adorable." She blushed further at the feeling of his warm breath against her skin; she smiled widely at him and squeezed his hand in thanks. Remus felt his heart accelerate at her touch. _No stop thinking like that, she's too young!_ he thought furiously to himself. However, it didn't escape his notice when his hand remained firmly placed in hers.

**Soon, a series of heavy knives were chopping meat and vegetables of their own accord, supervised by Mr Weasley, while Mrs Weasley stirred a cauldron dangling over the fire and the others took out plates, more goblets and food from the pantry. **

**Harry was left at the table with Sirius and Mundungus, who was still blinking at him mournfully.**

**'Seen old Figgy since?' he asked.**

**'No,' said Harry, 'I haven't seen anyone.'**  
**'See, I wouldn't 'ave left,' said Mundungus, leaning forward, a pleading note in his voice, 'but I 'ad a business opportunity - '**

Harry shifted as Sirius pulled him closer, muttering something about Mundungus Fletcher, Dementors, and bloody cauldrons, making Harry laugh at his godfather's antics.

**Harry felt something brush against his knees and started, but it was only Crookshanks, Hermione's bandy-legged ginger cat, who wound himself once around Harry's legs, purring, then jumped on to Sirius's lap and curled up. Sirius scratched him absent-mindedly behind the ears as he turned, still grim-faced, to Harry.**

"I never thought I'd see the day that you were friendly to a cat," said Remus teasing Sirius.

"It's not my fault cats are evil, besides Crookshanks is only half cat," replied Sirius lightly.

"You think cats are evil?" asked Hermione raising an eyebrow.

"Sirius had some bad experiences with cats when we were younger," explained Remus.

"Plus I turn into a dog, so that doesn't really help," Sirius added as Hermione shook her head as Harry and Ron snorted.

**'Had a good summer so far?'**

**'No, it's been lousy,' said Harry.**

**For the first time, something like a grin flitted across Sirius's free.**

**'Don't know what you're complaining about, myself.'**

**'What?' said Harry incredulously.**

**'Personally, I'd have welcomed a Dementor attack. A deadly struggle for my soul would have broken the monotony nicely. **

"Sirius! How could you say that, you nearly died last time!" exclaimed Emmeline, she knew this house was getting to him but she had hoped it wasn't this bad. Maybe she should come over more often, she was sure she could do _something_ to cheer him up.

**You think you've had it bad, at least you've been able to get out and about, stretch your legs, get into a few fights . . . I've been stuck inside for a month.'**

"Don't encourage fighting, Sirius, Harry should be staying safe inside and so should you," Molly yelled glaring at him.

"Well excuse me if I happened to get a little attached to the fresh air and seeing the sun every day after not being able to for the past fourteen years," Sirius retorted coldly. Molly's glare softened and she reluctantly nodded, before turning back to the book, ignoring the slight smirk on his face.

**'How come?' asked Harry, frowning.**

"In the couple years that I've known you I've never pictured you as someone who appreciated the indoors," muttered Harry to Sirius, who nodded. He hated being trapped in this god-forsaken house, anywhere else and he would be fine, but not here, unfortunately it was the safest and only place available.

**'Because the Ministry of Magic's still after me, and Voldemort will know all about me being an Animagus by now, Wormtail will have told him, so my big disguise is useless. There's not much I can do for the Order of the Phoenix . . . or so Dumbledore feels.'**

Dumbledore sighed. He was doing his best, but he couldn't really blame Sirius for not wanting to be here after so many years in Azkaban, he had gone from one prison to another.

"Couldn't we change your appearance though? Then you would be able to go on walks around London, and since Tonks can change her appearance, wouldn't that help?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah and you could transfigure Sirius to look different every time, so nobody would notice anyway," added Ron looking back and forth between Harry and Hermione.

"Or I could get a dog, a golden retriever or something, and we could make a big show of me buying it and whatever and then swap it out for Sirius or something," added Harry excitedly, he had always wanted a dog. The Order was a little shocked, why hadn't they thought of any of that?

"I don't know about you getting a dog Harry, but I get off work around five and I'd be happy to take you for walks Sirius," said Tonks.

"Yes, I can just imagine Black in a collar and leash," Snape smirked. Sirius glared at him but didn't rise to the bait, especially since Dumbledore looked as though he might agree.

"I'll see if we can work something out," Dumbledore said kindly, "But if you don't mind I think we should leave it for another time, as it is late and we should be reading," he added and Arthur obliged.

**There was something about the slightly flattened tone of voice in which Sirius uttered Dumbledore's name that told Harry that Sirius, too, was not very happy with the Headmaster. Harry felt a sudden upsurge of affection for his godfather.**

"Oh sure, love me because I'm not happy with Dumbledore," said Sirius mock-pouting.

"Shut up," Harry whined smacking Sirius on the arm, it was kind of embarrassing to be hearing when Dumbledore himself was just metres away.

**'At least you've known what's been going on,' he said bracingly.**

**'Oh yeah,' said Sirius sarcastically. 'Listening to Snape's reports, having to take all his snide hints that he's out there risking his life while I'm sat on my backside here having a nice comfortable time . . . asking me how the cleaning's going - '**

"Severus, kindly keep comments like to yourself, otherwise I'm sure Molly can find some way for you to contribute," Dumbledore said frowning at Snape. Snape narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything.

"My affection for Dumbledore just rose slightly," Sirius muttered to Remus who rolled his eyes.

"Only because he told Snape off," he replied.

"Yes, but he also gave me a lovely vision of Snape in a frilly pink apron," said Sirius smirking.

"And to think I thought you were actually sane, and then you go and say something like that and ruining it," Remus commented dryly. Sirius scowled at him before hitting him in the shoulder as Remus laughed quietly at the offended look on his friends face.

**'What cleaning?' asked Harry.**

**Trying to make this place fit for human habitation,' said Sirius, waving a hand around the dismal kitchen. 'No one's lived here for ten years, not since my dear mother died, unless you count her old house-elf, and he's gone round the twist - hasn't cleaned anything in ages.'**

"I'm sure he would if you asked him too nicely," said Hermione.

"Somehow, if it's me asking, I doubt it," Sirius said trying not to roll his eyes.

**'Sirius,' said Mundungus, who did not appear to have paid any attention to the conversation, but had been closely examining an empty goblet. This solid silver, mate?'**

**'Yes,' said Sirius, surveying it with distaste. 'Finest fifteenth-century goblin-wrought silver, embossed with the Black family crest.'**

**'That'd come orf, though,' muttered Mundungus, polishing it with his cuff.**

"Like I would let him take them," said Sirius scowling at the book.

"But it just said you didn't like them," said Ron confused.

"That doesn't mean that I'm going to let him steal them, he is welcome to take some of the dodgier junk as long as it's not lethal or anything like that, but the goblets and silverware and the other valuable stuff that I actually want, well, he knows what will happen if he tries to steal it," Sirius told them.

**'Fred - George - NO, JUST CARRY THEM!' Mrs Weasley shrieked.**

**Harry, Sirius and Mundungus looked round and, within a split second, they had dived away from the table. Fred and George had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of Butterbeer and a heavy wooden breadboard, complete with knife, to hurtle through the air towards them. The stew skidded the length of the table and came to a halt just before the end, leaving a long black burn on the wooden surface; the flagon of Butterbeer fell with a crash, spilling its contents everywhere; the bread knife slipped off the board and landed, point down and quivering ominously, exactly where Sirius's right hand had been seconds before.**

Fred and George froze before looking at Sirius, who was examining his right hand.

"BOYS, just because you can use magic doesn't mean you have to use it all the time!" yelled Molly. The Twins nodded still looking at Sirius not really listening to their mother at all.

**'FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!' screamed Mrs Weasley. THERE WAS NO NEED - I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS - JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!'**

**'We were just trying to save a bit of time!' said Fred, hurrying forward to wrench the bread knife out of the table. 'Sorry, Sirius, mate - didn't mean to - '**

"We are so sorry Sirius, we didn't mean it," they said eyes wide ignoring the fact that they had just apologised in the book as well.

"Don't worry about it, considering it hasn't happened yet," Sirius told them smiling.

"Besides, it wouldn't be the first time someone has thrown a knife at him," added Remus cheerfully. Snape smiled to himself _that had been a good day_ he thought.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry curious. Sirius turned red and muttered something about a bad break up, making the room laugh, and Sirius turn a darker shade of red.

**Harry and Sirius were both laughing; Mundungus, who had toppled backwards off his chair, was swearing as he got to his feet; Crookshanks had given an angry hiss and shot off under the dresser, from where his large yellow eyes glowed in the darkness.**

**'Boys,' Mr Weasley said, lifting the stew back into the middle of the table, 'your mother's right, you're supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you've come of age - '**

"You're supposed to, but that doesn't mean it happens," commented Dumbledore, as most of the rooms occupants thought back to all of the silly things that had done once they were allowed to use magic. Arthur was the first to snap out of his daydream, but only because he remembered he was supposed to be reading.

**'None of your brothers caused this sort of trouble!' Mrs Weasley raged at the twins as she slammed a fresh flagon of Butterbeer on lo the table, and spilling almost as much again. 'Bill didn't feel the need to Apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't charm everything he met! Percy - '**

Tears came to Molly's eyes and Arthur clenched the book harder in his hands. He hated the way son was acting and he couldn't believe some of the hurtful things that Percy had said not only to himself but to Molly as well. He closed his eyes for a second before continuing.

**She stopped dead, catching her breath with a frightened look at her husband, whose expression was suddenly wooden.**

**'Let's eat,' said Bill quickly.**

**'It looks wonderful, Molly,' said Lupin, ladling stew on to a plate for her and handing it across the table.**

Sirius nodded "Yeah Molly, your cooking is so much better than eating rats," he remarked.

Molly looked at him oddly, "That was supposed to be a compliment wasn't it?" she asked uncertain. He frowned then realised how he had sounded,

"Of course, I could eat your food all day, not that I have much of an appetite anymore," Sirius exclaimed. Molly regarded him closely before deciding that he could do with as much fattening up as Harry, maybe more, perhaps she should add a few nutritional potions to their food.

**For a few minutes there was silence but for the chink of plates and cutlery and the scraping of chairs as everyone settled down to their food. Then Mrs Weasley turned to Sirius.**

**'I've been meaning to tell you, Sirius, there's something trapped in that writing desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking. Of course, it could just be a Boggart, but I thought we ought to ask Alastor to have a look at it before we let it out.'**

**'Whatever you like,' said Sirius indifferently.**

**The curtains in there are full of Doxys, too,' Mrs Weasley went on. 'I thought we might try and tackle them tomorrow.'**

Ron groaned while _Harry _and _Ron_ smirked, if everything worked out that room would be clean in a couple of hours.

**'I look forward to it,' said Sirius. Harry heard the sarcasm in his voice, but he was not sure that anyone else did.**

"Moony probably did, and Snape, but I doubt whether anybody else would have," Sirius answered the book.

"Why Snape?" asked Harry curiously.

"From all the times I heard it while we were at school," Snape said icily.

**Opposite Harry, Tonks was entertaining Hermione and Ginny by transforming her nose between mouthfuls. Screwing up her eyes each time with the same pained expression she had worn back in Harry's bedroom, her nose swelled to a beak-like protuberance that resembled Snape's, **

Snape glared at Harry and then at Tonks when she laughed. He couldn't wait till the end of the chapter, he would be able to leave and wouldn't have to put up with such foolishness, maybe Dumbledore would have a mission for him, or he could catch up on his preparation for the upcoming year, anything to get away from these people.

**shrank to the size of a button mushroom and then sprouted a great deal of hair from each nostril. Apparently this was a regular mealtime entertainment, because Hermione and Ginny were soon requesting their favourite noses.**

**'Do that one like a pig snout, Tonks.'**

**Tonks obliged, and Harry, looking up, had the fleeting impression that a female Dudley was grinning at him from across - the table.**

"Awe, Harry that was my favourite and now you've ruined it!" exclaimed Ginny mock-pouting. Harry smiled sheepishly, pleasantly surprised that she was still speaking to him.

**Mr Weasley, Bill and Lupin were having an intense discuss on about goblins.**  
**They're not giving anything away yet,' said Bill. 'I still can't work out whether or not they believe he's back. Course, they might prefer not to take sides at all. Keep out of it.'**

**'I'm sure they'd never go over to You-Know-Who,' said Mr Weasley, shaking his head. They've suffered losses too; remember that goblin family he murdered last time, somewhere near Nottingham?'**

"Did they join him?" asked Bill suddenly remembering there were time travellers in the room. _Harry _and _Ron_ exchanged glances before answering,

"No, they stayed neutral, but they err…" trailed off _Ron_ not looking Bill in the eye, he really didn't want to tell his brother that they had robbed the place that he worked for.

"Weren't too happy with either side," finished Harry silently adding _they didn't join Voldemort because he killed half their customers as well as their staff, and they didn't help us because we robbed them_ but he didn't think it wise to bring that particular point up yet.

**'I think it depends what they're offered,' said Lupin. 'And I'm not talking about gold. If they're offered the freedoms we've been denying them for centuries they're going to be tempted. Have you still not had any luck with Ragnok, Bill?'**

**'He's feeling pretty anti-wizard at the moment,' said Bill, 'he hasn't stopped raging about the Bagman business, he reckons the Ministry did a cover-up, those goblins never got their gold from him, you know - '**

"Neither did we," muttered the Twins together avoiding all the looks from the people that had heard them.

**A gale of laughter from the middle of the table drowned the rest of Bill's words. Fred, George, Ron and Mundungus were rolling around in their seats.**

Molly sighed and rolled her eyes, she wished her son's would have more sense than to take Mundungus Fletcher seriously, though there were worse people that they could be talking to, and at least he was able to distract them from other conversations regarding Order work.

**'. . . and then,' choked Mundungus, tears running down his face, 'and then, if you'll believe it, 'e says to me, 'e says, ' "Ere, Dung, where didja get all them toads from? 'Cos some son of a Sludger's gone and nicked all mine!" And I says, "Nicked all your toads, Will, what next? So you'll be wanting some more, then?" And if you'll believe me, lads, the gormless gargoyle buys all 'is own toads back orf me for a lot more'n what 'e paid in the first place - '**

The Twins, Ron, Ginny and Harry were now sniggering at the story while Hermione just rolled her eyes at their antics, it really wasn't that funny.

**'I don't think we need to hear any more of your business dealings, thank you very much, Mundungus,' said Mrs Weasley sharply, as Ron slumped forwards on to the table, howling with laughter.**

"I guess that's one positive thing about 'Dung, he's always good for a laugh," said _Ron_ whispered to _Harry_.

"I still trust him about as far as I could throw him,"_ Harry_ muttered back as the corner of _Ron's_ mouth twitched at the mental image.

**'Beg pardon, Molly,' said Mundungus at once, wiping his eyes and winking at Harry. 'But, you know, Will nicked 'em orf Warty Harris in the first place so I wasn't really doing nothing wrong.'**

**'I don't know where you learned about right and wrong, Mundungus, but you seem to have missed a few crucial lessons,' said Mrs Weasley coldly.**  
**Fred and George buried their faces in their goblets of Butterbeer; George was hiccoughing. For some reason, Mrs Weasley threw a very nasty look at Sirius before getting to her feet and going to fetch a large rhubarb crumble for pudding. Harry looked round at his godfather.**

**'Molly doesn't approve of Mundungus,' said Sirius in an undertone.**

"No I do not," muttered Molly.

**'How come he's in the Order?' Harry said, very quietly.**

**'He's useful,' Sirius muttered. 'Knows all the crooks - well, he would, seeing as he's one himself. But he's also very loyal to Dumbledore, who helped him out of a tight spot once. It pays to have someone like Dung around, he hears things we don't. But Molly thinks inviting him to stay for dinner is going too far. She hasn't forgiven him for slipping off duty when he was supposed to be tailing you.'**

"I haven't forgiven him either, but it's my house and I like him so I let him stay," Sirius said shrugging as Molly rolled her eyes.

**Three helpings of rhubarb crumble and custard later and I he waistband on Harry's jeans was feeling uncomfortably tight (which was saying something as the jeans had once been Dudley's). **

Harry whistled appreciatively, "That's a lot of food." Hermione looked at him,

"Those pants can't be that big," she said sceptically.

"Well they are the ones from when we were eleven, and even then I need a belt with them most of the time," Harry countered as Hermione blanched and the adults exchanged incredulous looks amongst themselves.

**As he laid down his spoon there was a lull in the general conversation: Mr Weasley was leaning back in his chair, looking replete and relaxed; Tonks was yawning widely, her nose now back to normal; and Ginny, who had lured Crookshanks out from under the dresser, was sitting cross-legged on the floor, rolling Butterbeer corks for him to chase.**

**'Nearly time for bed, I think,' said Mrs Weasley with a yawn.**

**'Not just yet, Molly,' said Sirius, pushing away his empty plate and turning to look at Harry. 'You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort.'**

Remus groaned, _here we go_ he thought.

**The atmosphere in the room changed with the rapidity Harry associated with the arrival of Dementors. Where seconds before it had been sleepily relaxed, it was now alert, even tense. A frisson had gone around the table at the mention of Voldemort's name. Lupin, who had been about to take a sip of wine, lowered his goblet slowly, looking wary.**

"I was probably hoping you would bring it up in private, rather than the dinner table," Remus said shaking his head at Sirius who shrugged.

**'I did!' said Harry indignantly. 'I asked Ron and Hermione but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so - '**

**'And they're quite right,' said Mrs Weasley. 'You're too young.'**

"Being too young hasn't stopped Voldemort from coming after me," said Harry bitterly

**She was sitting bolt upright in her chair, her fists clenched on its arms, every trace of drowsiness gone.**

Arthur held back a groan; this wasn't going to end well.

**'Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?' asked Sirius. 'Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happen-'**

Harry smiled at Sirius, who smiled back.

**'Hang on!' interrupted George loudly.**

**'How come Harry gets his questions answered?' said Fred angrily.**

**'We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!' said George.**

Fred and George glared at the book, just because they weren't out of school didn't mean they couldn't handle what was going on with the war, they were of age! That had to count for something!

**'"You're too young, you're not in the Order," ' said Fred, in a high-pitched voice that sounded uncannily like his mother's. 'Harry's not even of age!'**

**'It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing,' said Sirius calmly, 'that's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand - '**

**'It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!' said Mrs Weasley sharply.**

"Actually Molly it is, and while I can't thank you enough for what you have done for Harry for the past four years, James and Lily left me as his guardian, not you" Sirius said stiffly.

**The expression on her normally kind face looked dangerous. 'You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?'**

**'Which bit?' Sirius asked politely, but with the air of a man readying himself for a fight.**

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose, he knew this wasn't going to end well and there wasn't a thing he could do to stop it, he could only hope that nothing too damaging was said and nobody got hurt but he wasn't going to hold his breath.

**The bit about not telling Harry more than he needs to know,' said Mrs Weasley, placing a heavy emphasis on the last three words.**

"Well then, that's nearly everything thing isn't it," muttered Harry to himself, he was getting sick of everybody trying to keep him in the dark about everything.

**Ron, Hermione, Fred and Georges heads swivelled from Sirius to Mrs Weasley as though they were following a tennis rally. Ginny was kneeling amid a pile of abandoned Butterbeer corks, watching the conversation with her mouth slightly open. Lupin's eyes were fixed on Sirius.**

"Sirius has always been prone to getting a little violent when he is riled up about something, I am probably just making sure that he doesn't do something that he will regret later," said Remus explaining quietly. Arthur looked worriedly between his wife and Sirius, Molly had always had a habit of bringing up the past when she was mad, and he could only hope that she didn't do it this time, especially if Sirius was just as mad.

**'I don't intend to tell him more than he needs to know, Molly,' said Sirius. 'But as he was the one who saw Voldemort come back' (again, there was a collective shudder around the table at the name) 'he has more right than most to - '**

"He is not a member of the Order!" yelled Molly.

**'He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!' said Mrs Weasley. 'He's only fifteen and - '**

"That doesn't really seem to matter though does it?" questioned Moody, he was one of the few members of the Order that wanted to tell the younger ones what was going on, if only to prepare them should something happen in the future, which, seeing as the way the war were going, was highly likely.

**'And he's dealt with as much as most in the Order,' said Sirius, 'and more than some.'**

**'No one's denying what he's done!' said Mrs Weasley, her voice rising, her fists trembling on the arms of her chair. 'But he's still - '**

**'He's not a child!' said Sirius impatiently.**

**'He's not an adult either!' said Mrs Weasley, the colour rising in her cheeks. 'He's not James, Sirius!'**

The room was silent. The colour had drained out of Sirius's face and he felt his body become sort of numb, as he tried to stop the flashes of memories from pulling him under.

"Of course I know he's not James!" Sirius yelled angrily, Molly glared at him and before anyone could stop her,

"Oh, really? Because the way you act around him suggests otherwise," she retorted.

"James is dead," Sirius said flatly, "So don't you dare bring him into this and don't you dare tell me I don't know the difference between my best friend and my godson," he growled.

**'I'm perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly,' said Sirius coldly.**

**'I'm not sure you are!' said Mrs Weasley. 'Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it's as though you think you've got your best friend back!'**

Sirius growled again and Molly felt bad that she had brought it up, even if it was in the future and not really her who said it, but she didn't apologise.

**'What's wrong with that?' said Harry.**

**'What's wrong, Harry, is that you are not your father, however much you might look like him!' said Mrs Weasley, her eyes still boring into Sirius. 'You are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!'**

**'Meaning I'm an irresponsible godfather?' demanded Sirius, his voice rising.**

Sirius growled again, he didn't need Molly Weasley to tell him that he was a bad godfather, he already knew that, but it hurt and made him angry to hear somebody else imply it.

**'Meaning you have been known to act rashly, Sirius, which is why Dumbledore keeps reminding you to stay at home and - '**

**'We'll leave my instructions from Dumbledore out of this, if you please!' said Sirius loudly.**

**'Arthur!' said Mrs Weasley rounding on her husband. 'Arthur, back me up!'**

Arthur paused in his reading; he knew that he would not back Molly up on this especially after the way that she was behaving towards Sirius.

**Mr Weasley did not speak at once. He took off his glasses and cleaned them slowly on his robes, not looking at his wife. Only when he had replaced them carefully on his nose did he reply.**

**'Dumbledore knows the position has changed, Molly. He accepts that Harry will have to be filled in, to a certain extent, now that he is staying at Headquarters.'**

"Arthur is right Molly, and I will be having a talk to Harry later, provided that it isn't mentioned in these books and _Harry_ agrees whether or not it is something that his younger self needs to know," Dumbledore told Molly calmly. _Harry_ looked at Dumbledore, sure that he was referring to the prophecy as well as the Horcuxes but didn't say anything and only nodded when Molly looked his way.

**'Yes, but there's a difference between that and inviting him to ask whatever he likes!'**

**'Personally,' said Lupin quietly, looking away from Sirius at last, as Mrs Weasley turned quickly to him, hopeful that finally she was about to get an ally, 'I think it better that Harry gets the facts - 'not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture **

"Just enough to keep them from going looking for answers, which I have no doubt they will," added the Remus in the room and Moody nodded, better safe than sorry.

**- from us, rather than a garbled version from . . . others.'** **His expression was mild, but Harry felt sure Lupin, at least, knew that some Extendable Ears had survived Mrs Weasley's purge.**

Molly's jaw dropped "Remus!" she spluttered not really knowing what to say, Remus was starting to blush at the stares he was given from those around the room.

"I don't know what you are all so shocked about, he may look like a mild mannered professor, but Moony here is most definitely a Marauder at heart," said Sirius laughing as Remus blushed further.

"Wait, Marauder?" gasped Fred gobsmacked.

"Moony?" said an equally shocked George.

"Wait, wait, wait, you two are only cottoning on to this now? They've been calling each other Padfoot and Moony all night?" asked an incredulous _Ron_.

"Yeah well we weren't really listening to what they were saying to each other," defended Fred.

"It's still kind of hard to miss," countered Ron. George looked as though he were about to argue when Harry interrupted,

"Well I guess we should introduce you?" he laughed as the Twins turned around to look at him. "Fred, George, I'd like to introduce you to Messers Moony and Padfoot," he said dramatically as Remus smirked and Sirius bowed laughing at their expressions, all anger temporarily forgotten.

"I take it you've heard of us?" asked Remus amused.

"Heard of you?" said Fred incredulously.

"You're our idols!" yelled George sounding like an obsessed school girl.

But before they could say anything else they were interrupted by Snape, "As _wonderful_ as this is, being a Marauder is hardly something to boast about," he sneered "I do think we could leave this _lovely_ little conversation until another time." Sirius growled at Snape who bared his teeth, his lip curling in response. Arthur took this as a cue to keeping reading, so in a loud voice he continued.

**'Well,' said Mrs Weasley, breathing deeply and looking around the table for support that did not come, 'well . . . I can see I' going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has Harry's best interests at heart -'**

**'He's not your son,' said Sirius quietly.**

**'He's as good as,' said Mrs Weasley fiercely. 'Who else has he got?'**

**'He's got me!'**

**'Yes,' said Mrs Weasley, her lip curling, 'the thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?'**

Sirius stood abruptly, face white, glaring at Molly. He was furious beyond words and hurt beyond belief that she would bring up his second greatest failing. Without a word he stalked out of the room slamming the door behind him and disappeared somewhere in the rest of the house.

"Molly that was cruel and unnecessary," said Remus with his head in his hands not looking at her. _Harry_ stood as well; it was time that Molly and Sirius had a talk.

"Mrs Weasley, can you please come with me?" _Harry_ asked indicating the stairs where Sirius had just left. Molly bit her lip but nodded, following _Harry_ around the table to the door.

"_Ron_," he said looking back over his shoulder, "Can you send mini-me in when the chapters done?" he asked. _Ron_ nodded and with that he and Molly disappeared up the stairs.

"Dad, if you don't mind?" prompted _Ron_, startling Mr Weasley who had been lost in thought.

"Right, of course," he stammered, clearing his throat and continuing.

**Sirius started to rise from his chair.**

**'Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry,' said Lupin sharply. 'Sirius, sit down.'**

"So I stopped it the first time?" asked Remus tentatively.

"Yeah, but they never really got the chance to apologise to each other for all the stuff they said," explained _Ron._

**Mrs Weasley's lower lip was trembling. Sirius sank slowly back into his chair, his face white.**

**'I think Harry ought to be allowed a say in this,' Lupin continued, 'he's old enough to decide for himself.'**

"Thank you," Harry said smiling at Remus.

**'I want to know what's been going on,' Harry said at once.**

**He did not look at Mrs Weasley. He had been touched by what she had said about his being as good as a son, but he was also impatient with her mollycoddling.**

Harry nodded agreeing completely.

**Sirius was right, he was not a child.**

**'Very well,' said Mrs Weasley, her voice cracking. 'Ginny - Ron - Hermione - Fred - George - I want, you out of this kitchen, now.'**

**There was instant uproar.**

**'We're of age!' Fred and George bellowed together.**

**'If Harry's allowed, why can't I?' shouted Ron.**

**'Mum, I want to hear!' wailed Ginny**

Arthur sighed, glad that Molly had gone upstairs for the time being.

**'NO!' shouted Mrs Weasley, standing up, her eyes overbright. 'I absolutely forbid - '**

**'Molly you can't stop Fred and George,' said Mr Weasley wearily. They are of age.'**

'**They're still at school.'**

"It doesn't matter, they are old enough so she can't forbid them from doing anything," said Emmeline coldly, she was extremely annoyed with Molly Weasley at the moment and didn't really care for anything she had to say.

**'But they're legally adults now,' said Mr Weasley, in the same tired voice.**

**Mrs Weasley was now scarlet in the face.**

**'I - oh, all right then, Fred and George can stay, but Ron - '**

"Yeah that's not going to happen either," laughed Tonks shortly.

**'Harry'll tell me and Hermione everything you say anyway!' said Ron hotly. 'Won't - won't you?' he added uncertainly, meeting Harry's eyes.**

**For a split second, Harry considered telling Ron that he wouldn't tell him a single word, that he could try a taste of being kept in the dark and see how he liked it. **

Ron frowned, then mock-glared at Harry,

"I wouldn't actually not tell you," said Harry smiling sheepishly, he had totally forgotten his anger at Ron and Hermione, it seemed so long ago now.

**But the nasty impulse vanished as they looked at each other.**

**'Course I will,' Harry said.**

"See," Harry pointed out,

"I did believe you, you know," said Ron smiling widely as Hermione beamed at him.

**Ron and Hermione beamed.**

**'Fine!' shouted Mrs Weasley. 'Fine! Ginny - BED!'**

"Sorry Gin, you were the only one who didn't really have a reason to be there," said _Ron_ apologetically. Ginny glared at the book, but didn't say anything, he was right; she wasn't really as close to everything as the others where. She wasn't even really 'friends' with Harry per say, but that was definitely going to change, she knew it.

**Ginny did not go quietly. They could hear her raging and storming at her mother all the way up the stairs, and when she reached the hall Mrs Blacks ear-splitting shrieks were added to the din. Lupin hurried off to the portrait: to restore calm. It was only after he had returned, closing the kitchen door behind him and taking his seat at the table again, that Sirius spoke.**

**'OK, Harry . . . what do you want to know?'**

**Harry took a deep breath and asked the question that had obsessed him for the last month.**

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, he would finally get a little bit of peace after a month of worrying.

**'Where's Voldemort?' he said, ignoring the renewed shudders and winces at the name. **

Harry rolled his eyes as nearly everyone winced but was pleased to notice that _Ron_ didn't wince and instead laughed at all the reactions including Harry's.

**'What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news, and there hasn't been anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or anything.'**

"That's because there hasn't been any funny deaths yet," commented Tonks. Arthur laughed as he read ahead and saw the next line. "What's so funny?" Tonks asked but Arthur didn't answer.

**That's because there haven't been any funny deaths yet,' said Sirius, **

"Oh," said Tonks blushing at saying the exact same thing as her cousin.

"You and Sirius are more alike than I thought," Remus told her smiling.

**'not as far as we know, anyway . . . and we know quite a lot.'**

**'More than he thinks we do, anyway,' said Lupin.**

**'How come he's stopped killing people?' Harry asked. He knew Voldemort had murdered more than once in the last year alone.**

**'Because he doesn't want to draw attention to himself,' said Sirius. 'It would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see. He messed it up.'**

**'Or rather, you messed it up for him,' said Lupin, with a satisfied smile.**

_Ron_ grimaced, remembering the other comeback that _Harry_ had ruined, of course that had been a victory party but he didn't want to dwell on the memory so he shifted his focus back to the book.

**'How?' Harry asked, perplexed.**

**'You weren't supposed to survive!' said Sirius. 'Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to know he'd come back. But you survived to bear witness.'**

**'And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return the moment he got back was Dumbledore,' said Lupin. 'And you made sure Dumbledore knew at once.'**

**'How has that helped?' Harry asked.**

"Are you kidding Harry?" exclaimed Bill

**'Are you kidding?' said Bill incredulously. 'Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was ever scared of!'**

**Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned,' said Sirius.**

"So that's what you meant when you told Sirius to round up the 'old crowd' in June?" Harry asked Dumbledore who nodded.

**'So, what's the Order been doing?' said Harry, looking around at them all.**

**'Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans,' said Sirius.**

**'How d'you know what his plans are?' Harry asked quickly.**

"Snape," muttered _Ron_.

**'Dumbledore's got a shrewd idea,' said Lupin, 'and Dumbledore's shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate.'**

Dumbledore had to smile at their faith in him; he just hoped that he was leading them in the right direction.

**'So what does Dumbledore reckon he's planning?'**

**'Well, firstly, he wants to build up his army again,' said Sirius. 'In the old days he had huge numbers at his command: witches and wizards he'd bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well, they'll be just one of the groups he's after.**

"Like the Werewolves'?" asked Hermione

"Yes, but I don't know if many of them will choose a side," said Remus.

**He's certainly not going to try and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters.'**

**'So you're trying to stop him getting more followers?'**

**'We're doing our best,' said Lupin.**

**'How?'**

**'Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many people as possible that You-Know-Who really has returned, to put them on their guard,' said Bill. 'It's proving tricky, though.'**

"It was tricky even after everyone knew about him being back," commented _Ron_.

"How long did it take though?" asked Harry, _Ron_ looked hesitant, then,

"About a year," he said slowly, biting his lip to stop himself from saying more.

**'Why?'**

**'Because of the Ministry's attitude,' said Tonks. 'You saw Cornelius Fudge after You-Know-Who came back, Harry. Well, he hasn't shifted his position at all. He's absolutely refusing to believe it's happened.'**

"Is he really that stupid?" asked Harry incredulously

"What you have to remember Harry, is that there had been peace for almost fourteen years, and while Cornelius had been an adequate Minister during his first four years in the role, he has not got the experience to deal with a war. But in answer to your question, no, Cornelius is not stupid, how else would he have come up with such a way to keep Voldemort's return quite?" Dumbledore answered him calmly.

**'But why?' said Harry desperately. 'Why's he being so stupid? If Dumbledore - '**

**'Ah, well, you've put your finger on the problem,' said Mr Weasley with a wry smile. 'Dumbledore.'**

**'Fudge is frightened of him, you see,' said Tonks sadly.**

**'Frightened of Dumbledore?' said Harry incredulously.**

**'Frightened of what he's up to,' said Mr Weasley. 'Fudge thinks Dumbledore's plotting to overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be Minister for Magic.'**

"Is that true?" asked Ginny shyly, she thought Dumbledore would make a great Minister.

"I am quite happy where I am, Cornelius just doesn't want admit that he is wrong, and so he is grabbing onto every excuse he can find," Dumbledore told her.

**'But Dumbledore doesn't want - '**

**'Of course he doesn't,' said Mr Weasley. 'He's never wanted the Minister's job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he's never quite forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the job.'**

"Yes that is one of the problems," said Dumbledore frowning.

**'Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore's much cleverer than he is, a much more powerful wizard, and in the early days of his Ministry he was forever asking Dumbledore for help and advice,' said Lupin. 'But it seems he's become fond of power, and much more confident. He loves being Minister for Magic and he's managed to convince himself that he's the clever one and Dumbledore's simply stirring up trouble for the sake of it.'**

How could Fudge think that, thought Harry, how could he think that Dumbledore –that he'd make it all up? Hadn't he gone through enough without people thinking he was a liar as well?

**'How can he think that?' said Harry angrily. 'How can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up - that I'd make it all up?'**

**'Because accepting that Voldermort's back would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn't had to cope with for nearly fourteen year's,' said Sirius bitterly. 'Fudge just can't bring himself to face it. It's so much more comfortable to convince himself Dumbledore's lying to destabilise him.'**

"My point exactly," said Dumbledore agreeing, that was one thing that he was glad Sirius hadn't lost in Azkaban, his understanding of how people's minds work, whether it be his deranged cousin Bellatrix or the Minister himself, Sirius knew what he was talking about.

**'You see the problem,' said Lupin. 'While the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry's leaning heavily on the Daily Prophet not to report any of what they're calling Dumbledore's rumour-mongering, so most of the wizarding community are completely unaware anything's happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters if they're using the Imperius Curse.'**

**'But you're telling people, aren't you?' said Harry, looking around at Mr Weasley, Sirius, Bill, Mundungus, Lupin and Tonks. 'You're letting people know he's back?'**

**They all smiled humourlessly.**

Those who were present were doing the same now.

**'Well, as everyone thinks I'm a mad mass-murderer and the Ministry's put a ten thousand Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?' said Sirius restlessly.**

"That would be pretty funny if he did though, wouldn't it?" said George

"Provided he didn't end up back in Azkaban though," added Fred when Harry glared at them.

**'And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community,' said Lupin. 'It's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf.'**

**'Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the Ministry if they started shooting their mouths off,' said Sirius, 'and it's very important** **for us to have spies inside the Ministry, because you can bet Voldemort will have them.'**

**'We've managed to convince a couple of people, though,' said Mr Weasley. Tonks here, for one – **

Tonks smiled, she had been intrigued when Moody had approach her about the Order, and it was on the night that she joined that she had met Sirius as well as Remus again for the first time in a long time, so at the time, she couldn't really see a down side to it, besides the whole life-on-the-line thing.

**she's too young to have been in the Order of the Phoenix last time, and having Aurors on our side is a huge advantage - Kingsley Shacklebolt's been a real asset, too; he's in charge of the hunt for Sirius, so he's been feeding the Ministry information that Sirius is in Tibet.'**

"Thank you," Harry said whole-heartedly smiling at Kingsley who smiled back,

"Sirius is a good man, I'm happy to help where I can," he said simply.

**'But if none of you are putting the news out that Voldemort's back - ' Harry began.**

**'Who said none of us are putting the news out?' said Sirius. 'Why d'you think Dumbledore's in such trouble?'**

"You're in trouble?" asked Harry, a small bite of anger flaring in him when Dumbledore did not meet his eyes.

"Nothing that I can't handle," Dumbledore replied.

**'What d'you mean?' Harry asked.**

**They're trying to discredit him,' said Lupin. 'Didn't you see the Daily Prophet last week? They reported that he'd been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards because he's getting old and losing his grip, but it's not true; he was voted out by Ministry wizards after he made a speech announcing Voldemort's return. They've demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot - that's the Wizard High Court - and they're talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too.'**

"They can't do that!" shrieked Hermione.

"They can and they did," said _Ron_ calmly, "He got most of his titles back, I'm not sure if he ever got the Chief Warlock bit back though," he added.

**'But Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog Cards,' said Bill, grinning.**

**'It's no laughing matter,' said Mr Weasley sharply. 'If he carries on defying the Ministry like this he could end up in Azkaban, and the last thing we want is to have Dumbledore locked up. While You-Know-Who knows Dumbledore's out there and wise to what he's up to he's going to go cautiously. If Dumbledore's out of the way - well, You-Know-Who will have a clear field.'**

**'But if Voldemort's trying to recruit more Death Eaters it's bound to get out that he's come back, isn't it?' asked Harry desperately.**

**'Voldemort doesn't march up to people's houses and bang on their front doors, Harry,' said Sirius. 'He tricks, jinxes and blackmails them. He's well-practised at operating in secret. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he's interested in. He's got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed, and he's concentrating on those for the moment.'**

"He doesn't even tell his followers what he is planning until it actually happens or there is a need to," commented Snape.

"How do you know that?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"Serverus is our spy amongst the Death Eaters," said Dumbledore ending the discussion.

**'What's he after apart from followers?' Harry asked swiftly. He thought he saw Sirius and Lupin exchange the most fleeting of looks before Sirius answered.**

**'Stuff he can only get by stealth.'**

"Lupin that is not something that qualifies as _need to know_," Snape sneered.

"Maybe not but it is something that he deserves to know," Remus said, his voice clipped.

Snape looked like he was going to say something but he was cut off by Dumbledore, who told Arthur to continue.

**When Harry continued to look puzzled, Sirius said, 'Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time.'**

**'When he was powerful before?'**

**'Yes.'**

**'Like what kind of weapon?' said Harry. 'Something worse than the Avada Kedavra - ?'**

Remus looked at Dumbledore who nodded, it would not do for Harry to be worrying over something like that, "No, it isn't that kind of weapon Harry, it's more information than anything else," said Remus.

**That's enough!'**

**Mrs Weasley spoke from the shadows beside the door. Harry hadn't noticed her return from taking Ginny upstairs. Her arms were crossed and she looked furious.**

**'I want you in bed, now. All of you,' she added, looking around at Fred, George, Ron and Hermione.**

**'You can't boss us - ' Fred began.**

"Not the best thing to say Freddie," laughed George as Fred glared at him.

**'Watch me,' snarled Mrs Weasley. She was trembling slightly as she looked at Sirius.**

**'You've given Harry plenty of information. Anymore and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway.'**

**'Why not?' said Harry quickly. 'I'll join, I want to join, I want to fight.'**

_You'll get your turn Harry_ thought _Ron_ sadly his friend had gone through so much in the war before he was granted peace, and he had lost so much along the way. Ron hoped that this time Harry would not have to pay as much as he did the first time before he could end the war.

**'No.'**

**It was not Mrs Weasley who spoke this time, but Lupin.**

**The Order is comprised only of overage wizards,' he said. 'Wizards who have left school,' he added, as Fred and George opened their mouths. There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you . . . I think Molly's right, Sirius. We've said enough.'**

"Remus is right Harry, you haven't dealt with what they have yet," _Ron_ interjected when Harry looked like he was about to argue. _Besides you'll have the D.A. to worry about instead_ he added mentally.

**Sirius half-shrugged but did not argue. Mrs Weasley beckoned imperiously to her sons and Hermione. One by one they stood up and Harry, recognising defeat, followed suit.**

"That's the end of the chapter," said Arthur with a yawn.

"Harry, you…err…older you said to tell you to go to the drawing room, Sirius, Molly and _Harry _will be waiting for you," said _Ron_. Harry nodded and headed up the stairs.

"So what's Elvendork?" asked Fred suddenly.

Remus smiled and turned to Dumbledore, "Albus do you think we would be able to borrow your pensieve tomorrow?" he asked.

Dumbledore nodded, he had found that particular memory to be quite amusing, "I'll bring my copy of the memory as well, that way nobody has to try and get it from the Hall of Records."

Remus smiled and nodded before turning back to Fred, "You'll just have to wait until tomorrow," and with that those staying at Grimmauld Place made their way up to bed while the others left for their own homes.

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**Please review :) I love hearing about what you guys think of my story.**


	9. Upstairs

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling. Thanks for all of the new alerts and favourites guys and also thanks to the people that reviewed, it's good to know what you all like about my story so please review :)**

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Upstairs

_Upstairs, half-an-hour earlier:_

_Harry_ climbed the stairs with Molly silently trailing behind him- he had no idea what he was going to say to the both of them- but first he had to find Sirius. He came to a stop at the entrance way and turned to Molly,

"Can you wait in the drawing room while I go find Sirius?" he asked, she nodded and he turned to go up the stairs when she stopped him,

"_Harry_ I-" she started but he cut her off.

"I know your sorry Mrs Weasley, but it's not really me you need to apologise to," and with that he left her at the bottom of the stairs, a sad understanding etched on her usually kind face.

_Harry_ knew exactly where Sirius was hiding, the same place he had spent his time moping around the first time. He stopped at Sirius's mother's bedroom door which was slightly ajar. Sirius was not going to get away with spending the entire time feeling sorry for himself. He, _Harry,_ would make Sirius snap out of it, even if he had to hang him upside down by the ankle to do it. He gently pushed the door open and looked around the room.

Buckbeak had raised his head and _Harry_ bowed deeply before entering further into the room. It looked as though the room was empty, but just as he made to leave to look elsewhere; _Harry_ heard movement coming from under the bed.

He got down on all fours and lifted up the dusty covers peering under the bed. He was met by a pair of eyes that gleamed in the sudden light. _Harry _smiled.

"I didn't think you were one for hiding under beds," he said as he climbed under to lie next to the big black dog. Padfoot let out a small whine which seemed to _Harry_ to say 'I'm not hiding'.

He laughed "Then why are you under the bed?" Padfoot nudged _Harry_ in the shoulder with his nose and let out another whine. They lay there in comfortable silence for what seemed like an eternity before _Harry_ spoke again, this time though he was quite serious.

"You didn't fail me," he said taking a deep breath. Padfoot made a kind of disbelieving noise but _Harry_ cut him off, "No I mean it, you were angry and in pain from the loss of your best friends and the betrayal of another, but that didn't stop you from making sure that I got to Dumbledore safely. Remus told me how much you loved that bike of yours but you gave it up in an instant to get me to safety. That isn't failure."

He was rambling but he didn't care. This was something that he needed to say as much as Sirius needed to hear it. "Then in my third year you broke out of prison for me, something that nobody else has ever done, well, without help anyway. Then you somehow managed to swim all the way into shore and get all the way to Hogwarts without being seen just because I was in danger. That isn't failure either. That makes you probably the best godfather in the history of godfathers," _Harry_ laughed again as he felt Padfoot's chest swell next to him.

"But you are reckless and you are irresponsible. Don't look at me like that, I've seen the Elvendork incident," he added when Padfoot huffed and shot him a look. "What was I saying? Oh yeah, just because you are reckless and irresponsible sometimes doesn't make you a bad godfather, it just means you are still learning, and I've never told you this but…" he trailed off and Padfoot moved a bit closer, "You're like a father, a brother and an uncle all rolled into one…and you mean the world to me," _Harry_ was almost whispering now, trying to keep his voice level and the tears out of his eyes, he had never gotten the chance to tell Sirius how much he meant to him and now that he had that chance he wasn't going to hold back.

"Do you really mean that?" Came a soft voice next to him making him jump, Harry had been so lost in his thoughts he had completely missed Sirius transform. His eyes were slightly red and his voice was slightly hoarse. Harry smiled and hugged the man next to him,

"I'll always mean it Padfoot," he murmured. He pulled back and looked Sirius in the eye, "So are you going to stay up here and mope? Or are you going to go downstairs and talk with Molly?" Harry asked sliding out from under the bed. He heard a great sigh from under the bed then, Sirius slid out as well.

"I guess we should head downstairs then," Sirius smiled.

* * *

They say that hindsight is twenty-twenty, in fact, if you were to look the word up in a dictionary you would find it described as: the ability to understand after something has happened, what should have been done or what caused the event. But how do you understand something that has occurred if it hadn't really happen yet, if it was more foresight than anything else? These were the thoughts of one Molly Weasley as she waited in the drawing room of Grimmauld place.

She was waiting for _Harry_ and Sirius to come back down from wherever they were so she and Sirius could talk and try to reach some kind of understanding between them, and it was here that Molly had discovered her problem. She did not have the luxury of hindsight as the event that had caused the fight hadn't actually happened yet and therefore Molly Weasley had no clue of what she was going to say, or how she was going to say it, because unlike when dealing with hindsight, she couldn't see both points of view, she didn't understand where Sirius was coming from.

So she stared into the fire lost in thought debating with herself the pros and cons of hindsight, and this was how _Harry_ and Sirius found her when they entered to room some fifteen minutes later.

_Harry_ cleared his throat to capture both Molly's and Sirius's attention, clearly hoping that one of them would start talking without his assistance. But as they both sat in awkward silence _Harry_ realised, as he had upstairs, that he would have to be the one to start.

"Okay so, silence wasn't what I had in mind when I dragged you both in here, so I am going to say one thing and one thing only," _Harry_ said looking between the two adults on the two arm chairs opposite him. "You two, are some of the most important people in my life, Molly you took me under your wing that very first day at Kings Cross Station and have been filling in the role of my mother figure ever since. Sirius, like I said upstairs, you are the closest thing I have to a father as well as one of my last connections to my parents and you are both extremely important to me," He smiled at each of them in turn, taking a deep breath before saying the words that he had never really said to either of them before, "I love you, both of you, but you need to understand that in order for you to take care of me, and I mean the me downstairs right now, you need to work together and stop fighting over nothing," he finished, leaving them to make the next move.

"I-I just wanted to apologise, for what I said to you tonight Sirius, not just to your face but what was in the book as well-" Molly said looking up from her hands to look Sirius in the eye.

"You don't need to apologise, Molly, I know you didn't mean it," Sirius interrupted her but she shook him off.

"Please let me finish," she said her brow creasing as she thought of what she was going to say next. "I'm sorry for all of those awful things I said and not just in the book. I never should have brought up Azkaban and Remus was right when he said it was cruel." She said looking down at her hands again, not quiet having the courage to look at the expressions passing over his face as she spoke.

"I forgive you Molly, but I can't forgive you for what you said about me seeing Harry as James," both Molly and _Harry_ gave him a confused look, but Sirius couldn't bring himself to look at either one, especially _Harry._ "I can't forgive you because sometimes I think you're right and it scares me, I don't know if it's an after effect of Azkaban or just me losing my mind, but sometimes when I look at Harry I see flashes of James," Sirius said slowly, tears pooling in his eyes.

_Harry_ was gobsmacked, it was true then, he knew he looked extraordinarily like his father but for Sirius to see his father instead of him, he didn't know what to say.

Sirius looked up and seeing the shocked and distressed look on _Harry's_ face he quickly added, "But I know it's you _Harry_, and the feeling I get is gone as soon as I hear your voice or see your eyes and it makes me feel so ashamed but I can't make it stop and I want it to so much." He was crying now but he didn't care, the only thing that he cared about was _Harry_ and his reaction. The distressed look was gone now, but Sirius could still see the shocked look on both their faces and before he could do anything Molly had enveloped both of them in a tight hug.

"I am so sorry that you have to go through that, you are a good man and you don't deserve it. But your right, it does sound like an after effect from the Dementors, after all you're happy memories would be coming back, so it would be only natural that you will be confused for a while," Molly said kindly as she pulled back from the hug. "And I will still apologise for bringing it up in the first place. Hearing horrible things like that won't help," she added.

_Harry_ smiled, Molly's explanation of Sirius's problem had calmed his mind and put him at ease; it wasn't Sirius's fault and explained some of Sirius's behaviours that had happened that year.

"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't want to tell you, and I wanted to deal with it on my own-" Sirius told _Harry_ wiping the tears from his eyes, wanting Harry to understand.

"No it's fine, don't worry about it," _Harry_ said hugging the man again. "Just tell mini-me okay, I had a lot of issues this year about the whole identity thing," _Harry_ told him, not really sure how to put what he was talking about into words. Sirius smiled again and nodded, happy that _Harry_ didn't hate him.

"So while it's just us, what's going on between Remus and Tonks?" asked Sirius changing the subject.

"It's in the books, well the next two," replied_ Harry_.

"Yeah but that's not telling me anything is it," grumbled Sirius.

"Honestly Sirius, they're in love. We've all seen it," chided Molly rolling her eyes as Sirius pouted at _Harry_.

"I know that!" Sirius exclaimed. "But does anything happen?" he added looking back to _Harry._

"You'll just have to wait and see," replied _Harry_ vaguely, trying to keep the excitement and sorrow out of his voice.

"So something does happen, I'll have to tell Moony," laughed Sirius.

"You leave that poor man alone Sirius Black, he'll come to it in his own time," scolded Molly as Sirius once again pouted and muttered something about Molly spoiling his fun.

After that, there was a distinct lull in the conversation as they sat there by the fire. However, after five minutes or so the silence was interrupted by a knock at the door. _Harry_ rose and opened the door revealing his fifteen year old self.

"They finished the chapter," Harry said looking further into the room at Molly and Sirius, as if checking to make sure they were both still alive. _Harry_ led his younger self over to the fire where Molly and Sirius were surprisingly -considering the two seconds that _Harry_ had been gone, though unsurprisingly as it was Molly and Sirius- in the middle of an argument, thought it seemed more calm conversation than an actual argument.

"I'm just saying Molly, James and Lily left me in charge of Harry's welfare," said Sirius.

"I understand that, Sirius, but it's not just Harry that I'm worried about. Who is looking after _you_?" Molly replied earnestly. "Let me help look after both of you."

"Alright," he nodded, "but you have to understand that when it comes down to any decision that needs to be made about Harry, the final decision will be made by me. However, I will take your advice into consideration, you've raised seven children, Molly and I'm still learning so it would be stupid not to," Sirius said, his tone serious but flooded with gratitude and a small amount of excitement at the prospect of having someone actually looking after him like his own mother should have.

"I understand, and I'm glad that you are willing to let me continue to be a part of Harry's upbringing," Molly said with a smile.

To say Harry was shocked would be an understatement, apparently when you put Sirius Black and Molly Weasley together in a room, bloodshed was not the end result, oddly enough they had reached an understanding and their argument was actually quite civil. _Harry_ laughed at his younger self's confusion before beckoning Molly towards him as she finished her conversation with Sirius.

"Your next guest, Mr Padfoot," _Harry_ laughed with a bow as Harry took a seat across from Sirius next to the fire. Sirius laughed,

"Thanks _Harry_," he said looking at _Harry_ before turning to look at his younger looking godson, who was fiddling with a loose tread on his jumper.

_Harry_ and Molly moved towards the door, no longer having a reason to be there, _Harry_ because this was a conversation he had already had with Ron and Hermione and Molly, because she didn't think that Harry would feel comfortable talking openly with her in the room. _Harry_ turned towards Sirius,  
"I'll send in Remus, I'm sure he'll be close by, he's probably hiding from Tonks or something," _Harry_ told him with a cheeky smile. Molly smiled as well, she was thankful that at least some good had come from that awful argument, in fact, she reasoned that several good things had come from tonight's reading.

"It seems as though moving in here and listening to these books I have gained more sons to take care of," Molly said laughing once at the development. "Yourself, and Remus of course," she added at Sirius's confused look.

"And they'll need some looking after," smiled _Harry._

"Yes," Molly agreed, "You're both much to thin, thinner than Harry, I sometimes think," said Molly added as she and _Harry_ left the room. Sirius shook his head at her comment though he couldn't hide his surprise or happiness that she considered him a son, especially since they had been ready to rip each other's heads off not half an hour ago.

Sirius sighed. Now was the hard part, keeping his promise to _Harry_, so as they sat there waiting for Remus, Sirius told Harry everything, the flashes of memories, the feelings that were being dragged up from places he didn't know still existed, then finally he came to the part of the story that he had told Molly and _Harry_.

"So, do you actually think I'm my dad?" Harry asked cautiously.

"No, I know it's you, I always know it's you. It's just sometimes when you brush your hair out of your face or turn your head a certain way, I can't help but see _James_." Sirius replied.

Harry didn't know what to say, he understood that it wasn't Sirius's fault but he didn't know how he really felt about it, he wasn't angry but he wasn't fine with it either, he was confused. Harry was saved from answering by Remus who was looking slightly flushed. He came over and sat down next to Sirius on the other arm chair opposite Harry.

"So…you probably want to talk about what happened in the first chapter right?" asked Harry effectively changing the subject. Sirius had guessed that Harry wasn't quite sure how to react to what he had just told him; he was however, grateful that Harry had taken it fairly well and so he allowed Harry to move the conversation forward, they would talk about it more later, when Harry was ready.

"Yes, but Harry you have to be completely honest with us alright?" asked Remus. Harry hesitated, it would cost him something to tell the truth and it wasn't something that Harry wanted to talk about, but as he looked at Sirius, he nodded. Sirius had gone out on a limb and told him the truth about what was happening with him, so Harry decided that if Sirius could do it, then so could he.

Remus took a deep breath, bracing himself for the question that had been worrying him all night,

"What did they mean by squashing the magic out of you?" Remus asked looking Harry in the eye.

"Not what you're thinking," Harry said, breaking eye contact with Remus to look down at his hands.

"Harry, he was choking you, that's abuse! How can that not be what he meant?" asked Sirius, gently lifting Harry's chin so he would look at them.

"It's not! Please believe me, that was the only time he has ever done anything like this," Harry pleaded gesturing to the faint marks on his neck. "It is rare that the Dursley's ever get physical with me, there were a couple of times where I was thrown out of a room or Marge hit me in the legs with her walking stick, and Aunt Petunia swung a frying pan at my head-"

"A frying pan to your head!" yelled Sirius

"It was only once, and I ducked," said Harry attempting to calm his godfather down.

"That's not the point Harry," growled Remus.

"I know, but my point is, the Dursley's aren't big on physical violence, they're too 'normal' to be associated with it," said Harry quickly now trying to calm them both down.

"So what did he mean then?" asked Sirius impatiently he believed Harry when he said it wasn't physical, but something was happening and he would be damned if he wasn't going to get to the bottom of this.

"They…" This was the hard part, Harry decided. Letting them in enough to tell them things that only one other person knew, the last of his secrets of his well hidden life at the Dursley's. He took a deep breath. "They like to make me as miserable as possible, they didn't give me attention or praise and I was punished if I did something 'freakish' like accidental magic. When I was younger the punishment was just being locked in my…" Harry trailed off, should he say it? Should he completely and utterly put his trust in them? He looked at each of their faces, both were covered in worry, sadness, pain and something else, something that he had never ever seen on the Dursley's faces when they looked at him.

Love.

It was then that Harry decided, yes, he could trust them completely with his secrets, just as he knew he could trust Ron and Hermione. He was pulled out of his thoughts as by Sirius's voice,

"Harry?" he asked worry shining in his eyes as he looked at the boy he loved so much in front of him. Harry once again took a deep breath and said the one word that would change everything.

"Cupboard, they would lock me in my cupboard," he said quietly.

Sirius didn't know what to say, he was furious. How could those-those _people_, lock his precious godson in a bloody cupboard? He was so close to getting up and yelling, screaming obscenities at the Dursley's for everything they had ever done to Harry, but he stopped himself, Harry had put his trust in them just as Sirius had done with him not five minutes ago. He breathed deeply out of his nose before asking,

"A cupboard?"

"I slept in a cupboard, until I was eleven and had gotten my Hogwarts letter," Harry said with tears in his eyes. Remus gently wiped the tears away and pulled him into a hug. Sirius on the other hand pinched the bridge of his nose; he would come back to the cupboard later,

"And the punishments when you were older?" Sirius said looking up at Harry as he slid out of Remus's grip and back over to the couch opposite them.

"When I got older, they either locked me in the cupboard or they didn't give me any food, so I had to sneak out in the middle of the night to eat something," Harry answered. "But since I've been at Hogwarts they've been too scared of me to really do anything besides taking away my things or locking me in my room," he added as an afterthought.

"Harry you understand that this is still abuse don't you? Neglect is emotional and mental abuse and is just as hurtful as physical abuse, you know that right?" asked Remus hesitantly, they needed to make sure that Harry understood what the Dursley's did to him was wrong.

"I didn't until I went to Hogwarts and I saw the way that the Weasley's interacted with each other, the way a real family should act," Harry admitted.

"Have you ever spoken to anybody about what was happening in that house?" asked Sirius.

"Ron, I told Ron about it when he and the Twins rescued me in second year, the year with the flying Ford Angela, he helped me through a lot of it, but I haven't told Hermione," Harry said quietly.

"Why not?"

"I don't know, I think I'm scared of how she would react, I only told Ron because he saw the cat-flap and the bars on my window in second year, so I didn't have a choice, and he promised he wouldn't say anything to anyone without my permission, even Hermione, but I know how much he wants to tell her, I'm just scared…" said Harry trailing off, he honestly didn't know why he didn't tell any of this to Hermione, he thought that maybe it had something to do with the bond that he had developed with Ron over the situation, Ron knew all of his secrets and Harry knew all of his.

"Okay, I think we will leave it there for the night, it's already past midnight, so I think it was time we all got some rest," said Remus glancing at his watch, part of getting Harry to open up to them, they had decided was to not push Harry too much, they had gotten to the bottom of some of the many issues in Harry's young life tonight, so the rest could wait for another time, preferably during the day rather than the middle of the night.

Sirius nodded before standing and stretching. It had been a long night and he was tired but there was one more thing that he and Harry had to talk about,

"Harry would you mind bunking in with me tonight? I thought we would be able to have that conversation you've been waiting for, you know about what happened in June?" Sirius asked as Harry stood.

Harry smiled and nodded, happy to lose a bit more sleep if it meant finally putting what had happened in the graveyard behind him, and with that all three of them walked out of the room and up the stairs to their respective bedrooms.


	10. The Noble Most Ancient House of Black

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise and the stuff in bold is the work of JKRowling. Please review :)**

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The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

Harry landed with a thud, his wand at the ready as he crouched in the gloom of the graveyard. Ron, who had landed a few metres to the right, also had his wand ready to cast spells at a moment's notice. Breathing hard, he pressed his finger to his lips, a silent message to Ron, who nodded, his back to the tombstone where he was hidden. They had been scouting out the graveyard for signs of Dolohov when they had heard scuffling and raised voices from across the other side of the plot.

Death Eaters.

And a lot of them, at first Harry had thought it was Dolohov and whoever he had been able to find to support his cause of finding Voldemort, but as he looked among the hooded figures he was unable to spot him. Instead his eyes had come to rest on none other than Lucius Malfoy, who in Harry's time had only just escaped imprisonment because he had not participated in the final battle.

Harry growled and swore under his breath. If Lucius was here and Dolohov wasn't than he must have decided that he didn't want to involve Lucius, which, Harry decided was a good thing because it meant that Dolohov would be steering clear of other Death Eaters, therefore giving Harry and Ron more time to find him.

Harry closed his eyes, and couldn't help but remember how that morning had started out so well. They had gotten up to clear out the drawing room so that the occupants of Grimmauld Place would have a more comfortable area in which to read.

Harry smiled briefly as he remembered the conversation that he had had with Ron when he, Harry had entered the drawing room to find Ron staring at the glass fronted cabinet where Regulus's locket lay.

"_I don't think the Order would be very happy with you if you used Fiendfyre in the house," said Harry dryly as Ron continued to stare intently at the locket._

"_I don't know, Sirius would probably be ecstatic," retorted Ron, his eyes finally snapping away from the object that had tortured him to look at Harry._

"_Yeah he'd probably kiss you if you burnt the place down," Harry laughed as Ron wrinkled his nose. "Come on, let's get this room cleaned up, we still have to change our appearances," he added moving into the middle of the room._

"_So how are we going to do this?" asked Ron._

It had surprisingly only taken them a few hours, though they did have the advantage of being able to use magic as well as the unforeseen helpfulness that was Kreacher. Harry had been fully prepared to convince Kreacher that he and Ron knew about Regulus's locket and had, in the future, destroyed it, but much to Harry's surprise Kreacher had addressed him as 'Master' and did everything Harry had asked.

Apparently, as Kreacher had happily explained, a House Elves' tie to a family was so intricately woven into the their magic that they were able to recognise masters that were from a completely different timeline or period. So with the room cleared of anything that was unwanted, - most of which Kreacher whisked away to hide in the attic- unused or any type of living animal that wasn't supposed to be there, it had been cleaned and given a quick make over, which was really just Harry and Ron changing the colours of the walls and carpet and transfiguring in temporary lounges and cushions for people to sit on.

After that they had changed each other's appearances. Ron had taken up his former alias of 'Dragomir Despard', and now had curly brown hair and a short beard. Harry also now had brown hair, though lighter than Ron's and his eyes where muddy brown and his scar had been covered. They had then apparated to the graveyard in Little Hangleton which was how they had ended up in their current predicament.

Harry was suddenly brought back to the present as two of the Death Eaters began to move towards them. He looked across at Ron and nodded, there was no way that they were going to be able to get away without being spotted. Harry braced himself, silently twisting his body into a confident posture, ready to jump up and attack the two men that were walking towards them, if they were lucky they would only have to take down the two of them.

If they weren't, well, they would cross that bridge when they came to it. Harry glanced at Ron, he had also shifted his position so he was now crouched facing the tomb in front of him. Ron raised three fingers, a silent count down till they attacked.

Three.

Two.

One.

* * *

Meanwhile…

It was odd, Sirius thought as he looked around at the people eating breakfast at the table, that it had been just yesterday that he had been wishing to get out of the house, to go on a mission for the Order, to do something that he thought of as worthwhile in the fight against Voldemort.

But today, all he wanted to do was sit and read a book, even if it was a book about his godson and the future, Sirius still found it odd. One, because it _was_ about his godson and the future and two, because he actually wanted to read it. He had never been a great fan of reading unless it was the paper and even then he hadn't done that properly in years thanks to his traitorous ex-best friend Peter Pettigrew.

Sirius continued to ponder what else had taken a…odd turn in his mind, when his thoughts were interrupted by Molly who was placing the second plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. She knew this was the most she would be able to get him to eat, twelve years in Azkaban with little to no food had shrunken his stomach enough that too much of anything and he would throw it back up, so he figured that she had tried to sneak some kind of potion into his food.

That was another thing that was now decisively odd, just yesterday he and Molly had gotten along as well as cats and dogs, but as of last night they had reached an understanding and now he apparently had a 'mother' to look after him.

"So when are we going to start reading again?" asked Hermione after swallowing the last of her pumpkin juice.

"I think when everybody else has arrived and we've finished with breakfast dear," smiled Molly, though she was anxious to keep reading too.

"Where's older Harry and Ron?" asked Fred. Molly shrugged; she had no idea where those two boys were. She had gone to their room to tell them that breakfast was ready to find their beds empty. Sirius however, pulled a folded piece of parchment from his pyjamas and said,

"They left earlier this morning to follow a lead on Dolohov," he said as he fingered the unopened letter. "They left me a note on my door," he added at some of the stares around the table, particularly from Remus and the Weasley elders. Sirius unfolded the parchment and read the contents, his eyebrows rising as he did so.

"What's so interesting?" asked Remus from his position across the table. Sirius however ignored him; he stood abruptly and raced out of the kitchen, leaving the letter open on the table. Remus picked it up and read the contents, which as it turned out was only the five words,

'_Go to the drawing room'_

Remus frowned and made his way up the stairs, Harry, Ron and Hermione trailing behind him having read the note over his shoulder. He reached the double doors that led to the drawing room to see Sirius standing in front of them, staring at the door handles.

"They're round, and crystal, and round," Sirius said in awe.

Remus smiled at his friend's wonderment but moved past him to push open the doors. What they saw shocked them into silence.

Sirius felt his jaw drop as he walked into the room. Was he still in the same house? He was sure that his drawing room had been an ugly sight of olive greens and silvers, the carpet was old and dusty, the silk on the walls faded and pale.

This room was nothing of the sort; the carpet was a clean bright white, complimenting the white wooden panelling and royal blue silk that covered the walls. The furniture, had also been transformed, the stiff, old fashion lounges had been replaced with comfortable yet aristocratic white leather with blue and silver cushions. The dark wood of the coffee table as well as the writing desk that was sitting in the corner of the room, were no longer aged and faded; instead they were polished and shiny, reflecting the light of the roaring fire, in the now white marble fireplace that was sitting snuggly inbetween two lustrous glass fronted cabinets. The curtains were no longer buzzing with Doxy's; instead, the sheer white curtains flowed elegantly to the floor letting in bright sunlight through the gleaming windows.

"What's going on, what was that note...about?" asked Molly trailing off as she too entered the room, the rest of the Weasley's behind her. Molly was amazed, she had never seen such a beautiful room, but hadn't it been dirty and dusty just last night, when had this happened?

"Blimey, can we read in here today, it looks heaps better than the kitchen," said Ron as he looked around the room before sitting on one of the lounges. He looked down at the coffee table and saw that there was another note address to Sirius. He held it up and Sirius took it with a smile of thanks. Sirius opened it and read out loud,

'_We thought this room could do with a pick-me-up, have fun reading in your new room,_

_Harry and Ron_

_PS. we thought you would get a kick out of the door handles.'_

"They did this?" asked Arthur looking between the two boys, who were both now, slightly red.

"You're telling me that Ron actually cleaned something? Voluntarily?" asked George a shocked expression fixed on his face.

"Shut up," retorted Ron.

"Language Ronald," scolded Molly "Come on, the others will be here soon so let's everyone get dressed and we can wait for them in here," she added, taking one last look around the room before walking out the door.

One by one they all trailed out the door until the only person left in the room was Sirius. He couldn't believe that Harry and Ron had done this for them, for him, they had -whether on purpose or by accident, though he hoped it was the former- given him a sanctuary, in this nightmare of a house. This room was too different from how it used to look to hold the memories of his childhood, and so they did not haunt him. He couldn't see they place on the carpet where his mother had spilt his blood to see if it was still clean and pure after he had been sorted into Gryffindor or the spot where he had tackled Regulus to the ground because he had insulted James.

Sirius smiled to himself as he walked out of the door to get changed, he could quiet clearly see himself sitting comfortably in that room and he couldn't wait to try it out.

Half an hour later found the group back in the drawing room. This time however, they were dressed and accompanied by Kingsley, Moody, Tonks, Emmeline, Dumbledore and Snape.

"Hestia and Dedalus are on guard duty, so they will be unable to make it today," Dumbledore told them as he set his pensieve down on the coffee table, the small vial that contained a memory, next to it. It had been decided that Remus and Sirius would show anybody who wanted to see the 'Elvendork Incident' during the break for lunch, much to the disappointment of the Twins, who greatly wanted to see what their idols had gotten themselves into in order for the memory to be called an 'incident'.

After everybody settled down in their seats, Harry raised the question that was on everybody's minds,  
"Who's reading?" he asked as he sat down on a cushion at Sirius's feet.

"I will," said Molly as she picked up the book off the coffee table. "**The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black**," she read, looking at Sirius who was making a face.

**Mrs Weasley followed them upstairs looking grim.**  
**'I want you all to go straight to bed, no talking,' she said as they reached the first landing, 'we've got a busy day tomorrow. I expect Ginny's asleep,' she added to Hermione, 'so try not to wake her up.'**

Fred snorted, as if Ginny would have been asleep.

**'Asleep, yeah, right,' said Fred in an undertone, after Hermione bade them goodnight and they were climbing to the next floor. 'If Ginny's not lying awake waiting for Hermione to tell her everything they said downstairs then I'm a Flobberworm . . .'**

Molly sighed, it's not like she could do anything now, but that didn't stop her from glaring at her daughter. Ginny smiled sheepishly from her spot next to Harry.

**'All right, Ron, Harry,' said Mrs Weasley on the second landing, pointing them into their bedroom. 'Off to bed with you.'**  
**"Night,' Harry and Ron said to the twins.**  
**'Sleep tight,' said Fred, winking.**

"You better not do what I think you are going to do," said Molly, interrupting herself and shifting her glare to the Twins.

**Mrs Weasley closed the door behind Harry with a sharp snap. The bedroom looked, if anything, even danker and gloomier than it had on first sight. The blank picture on the wall was now breathing very slowly and deeply, as though its invisible occupant was asleep. **

"I doubt he would be, bloody thing, he's always spying on me," commented Sirius evenly, sending a glare in Dumbledore's direction.

**Harry put on his pyjamas, took off his glasses and climbed into his chilly bed while Ron threw Owl Treats up on top of the wardrobe to pacify Hedwig and Pigwidgeon, who were clattering around and rustling their wings restlessly.**  
**'We can't let them out to hunt every night,' Ron explained as he pulled on his maroon pyjamas. 'Dumbledore doesn't want too many owls swooping around the square, thinks it'll look suspicious. Oh yeah . . . I forgot . . .'**

"It will be now anyway, especially since Hedwig is here, she'll stand out against the night sky," commented Tonks, it probably wouldn't help either since everybody knew that Harry had a white snowy owl.

**He crossed to the door and bolted it.**

**'What're you doing that for?'**

"Oh, you weren't there last night were you?" asked Ron twisting his body to look at Harry who was sitting next to him. The rest of the room, that is, the ones that cared, looked at Ron and Harry curiously.

"I stayed with Sirius, we had stuff to talk about," Harry told him shifting to smile at the man behind him.

"Yeah I thought it would be something like that, anyway the crazy House Elf that lives here will come in the room if you don't lock the door," Ron said.

"Sorry Ron, I'll make sure he doesn't do it anymore," Sirius said apologetically and Ron smiled in thanks.

**'Kreacher,' said Ron as he turned off the light. 'First night I was here he came wandering in at three in the morning. Trust me, you don't want to wake up and find him prowling around your room. Anyway . . .' he got into his bed, settled down under the covers then turned to look at Harry in the darkness; Harry could see his outline by the moonlight filtering in through the grimy window, 'what d'you reckon?'**

"And I suppose that you stayed up last night and debated this last night as well," said Molly glaring at her sons.

"Well yeah but it wasn't just us, Hermione and Ginny were in on it as well!" exclaimed Fred.

"Oh really?" asked Harry crossing his arms and raising his eyebrow at his friends, his expression mock hurt.

"Don't you look at us like that Harry James Potter, you know perfectly well what we were talking about last night," Hermione said rolling her eyes at Harry.

"When exactly did you find that out?" asked Sirius as Harry grinned.

"Breakfast."

**Harry didn't need to ask what Ron meant.**

**'Well, they didn't tell us much we couldn't have guessed, did they?' he said, thinking of all that had been said downstairs. 'I mean, all they've really said is that the Order's trying to stop people joining Vol-'**

**There was a sharp intake of breath from Ron. -demort,' said Harry firmly. 'When are you going to start using his name? Sirius and Lupin do.'**

"Yes Harry, but people such as myself and Sirius are also a lot older than Ron and have had more experience at fighting Voldemort," said Remus calmly.

"There is also the fact that we didn't grow up scared of saying his name," Sirius added.

"Sorry Ron, it just annoys me," said Harry.

"It's fine mate, you know I ignore you anyway," said Ron smiling cheekily at him.

**Ron ignored this last comment.**

"Ouch Harry, no need to get violent," said Ron narrowing his eyes at the innocent looking Harry who had just punched him.

"You ignored me," said Harry still smiling while Ron rolled his eyes and the rest of the room laughed. It was good to see Harry still acting like a teenager.

**'Yeah, you're right,' he said, 'we already knew nearly everything they told us, from using the Extendable Ears. The only new bit was - '**

**Crack.**

**'OUCH!'**

**'Keep your voice down, Ron, or Mum'll be back up here.'**

**'You two just Apparated on my knees!'**

**'Yeah, well, it's harder in the dark.'**

"Yes Sirius, it's harder in the dark so you have to concentrate!" said Remus slowly as he smiled teasingly at Sirius who pouted.

"It was one time!" exclaimed Sirius.

"What did he do?" asked Tonks, but before Remus could answer Sirius had his hand over Remus's mouth and growled,

"We swore never to mention that again!" Remus laughed as Sirius's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything. Clearly disappointed she wasn't going to get an answer Tonks told Molly to continue reading.

**Harry saw the blurred outlines of Fred and George leaping down from Ron's bed. There was a groan of bedsprings and Harry's mattress descended a few inches as George sat down near his feet.**

**'So, got there yet?' said George eagerly.**

**The weapon Sirius mentioned?' said Harry.**

**'Let slip, more like,' said Fred with relish, now sitting next to Ron. 'We didn't hear about that on the old Extendables, did we?'**

"That's because you weren't supposed to know," said Molly glaring at Sirius and Remus.

"Now Molly, I'm sure that they would have found out eventually," said Dumbledore calmly.

**'What d'you reckon it is?' said Harry.**

**'Could be anything,' said Fred.**

**'But there can't be anything worse than the Avada Kedavra Curse, can there?' said Ron. 'What's worse than death?'**

"There are many things that are worse than death, Mr Weasley, and I'm sure you will understand that when you are older," answered Dumbledore kindly. Ron's ears turned red and he nodded.

**'Maybe it's something that can kill loads of people at once,' suggested George.**

**'Maybe it's some particularly painful way of killing people,' said Ron fearfully.**

Harry flinched, Voldemort didn't need anything painful, he already had Curciatus for that. Harry felt a sudden pressure on his hand and shoulder. He looked down to see Ginny squeezing his hand and turned his head to see Sirius with his hand on Harry's shoulder.

**'He's got the Cruciatus Curse for causing pain,' said Harry, 'he doesn't need anything more efficient than that.' ****There was a pause and Harry knew that the others, like him, were wondering what horrors this weapon could perpetrate.**

Molly groaned this was exactly why she didn't think it was a good idea to tell the children about something like this. It led to things that no child should have to think about and none of it was pleasant.

**'So who d'you think's got it now?' asked George.**

**'I hope it's our side,' said Ron, sounding slightly nervous.**

**'If it is, Dumbledore's probably keeping it,' said Fred.**

**'Where?' said Ron quickly. 'Hogwarts?'**

**'Bet it is!' said George. That's where he hid the Philosopher's Stone.'**

**'A weapons going to be a lot bigger than the Stone, though!' said Ron.**

Dumbledore smiled slightly, he couldn't help but be glad that they didn't have any more clues that could lead to more accurate guesses. After all size was not a measure of power as he was sure Ron would learn.

**'Not necessarily,' said Fred.**

**'Yeah, size is no guarantee of power,' said George. 'Look at Ginny'**

**'What d'you mean?' said Harry.**

**'You've never been on the receiving end of one of her Bat-Bogey Hexes, have you?'**

"No, and I plan to keep it that way," Harry said lightly as Ginny smiled sweetly at him while the Twins muttered something to themselves.

**'Shhh!' said Fred, half-rising from the bed. 'Listen!'**  
**They fell silent. Footsteps were coming up the stairs.**

**'Mum,' said George and without further ado there was a loud crack and Harry felt the weight vanish from the end of his bed. A few seconds later, they heard the floorboard creak outside their door; Mrs Weasley was plainly listening to check whether or not they were talking.**

**Hedwig and Pigwidgeon hooted dolefully. The floorboard creaked again and they heard her heading upstairs to check on Fred and George.**

**'She doesn't trust us at all, you know,' said Ron regretfully.**

"Yes and as you can see I have good reason not to," Molly grumbled glaring at the book as she read.

**Harry was sure he would not be able to fall asleep; the evening had been so packed with things to think about that he fully expected to lie awake for hours mulling it all over. **

"You were asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow!" teased Sirius.

"Was not!" Harry protested as the room snickered. He was, however, quiet happy after his talk with Sirius the previous night, and it was the first night that he had not dreamt anything unpleasant in what had seemed like a millennia.

**He wanted to continue talking to Ron, but Mrs Weasley was now creaking back downstairs again, and once she had gone he distinctly heard others making their way upstairs . . . in fact, many-legged creatures were cantering softly up and down outside the bedroom door,**

"What?" asked Bill.

**and Hagrid the Care of Magical Creatures teacher was saying, 'Beauties, aren't they, eh, Harry? We'll be studyin' weapons this term . . .' and Harry saw that the creatures had cannons for heads and were wheeling to ace him . . . he ducked . . .**

"Oh you're dreaming."

"You have the weirdest dreams Harry," laughed George as Harry poked his tongue out at him.

**The next thing he knew, he was curled into a warm ball under his bedclothes and George's loud voice was filling the room.**

**'Mum says get up, your breakfast is in the kitchen and then she needs you in the drawing room, there are loads more Doxys than she thought and she's found a nest of dead Puffskeins under the sofa.'**

**Half an hour later Harry and Ron, who had dressed and breakfasted quickly, entered the drawing room, a long, high-ceilinged room on the first floor with olive green walls covered in dirty tapestries. The carpet exhaled little clouds of dust every time someone put their foot on it and the long, moss green velvet curtains were buzzing as though swarming with invisible bees.**

"Wow, this room looks so different! I mean, I can't believe that it used to be so dark in here, now everything looks so new and shiny," exclaimed Tonks as she admired the room for the fifth time since she had first seen it.

**It was around these that Mrs Weasley, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George were grouped, all looking rather peculiar as they had each tied a cloth over their nose and mouth. Each of them was also holding a large bottle of black liquid with a nozzle at the end**

"Doxycide," Molly muttered to herself nodding.

**'Cover your faces and take a spray,' Mrs Weasley said to Harry and Ron the moment she saw them, pointing to two more bottles of black liquid standing on a spindle-legged table. 'It's Doxycide. I've never seen an infestation this bad - what that house-elf's been doing for the last ten years - '**

"Probably taking mad orders from my mother's painting," Sirius said sourly.

**Hermione's face was half concealed by a tea towel but Harry distinctly saw her throw a reproachful look at Mrs Weasley.**

**'Kreachers really old, he probably couldn't manage - '**

"He could if he wanted to Hermione, just because he is old doesn't mean that he is any less competent," Sirius told her lightly, Hermione frowned but didn't push the subject, she was sure it would come up later.

**'You'd be surprised what Kreacher can manage when he wnnts to, Hermione,' said Sirius, who had just entered the room carrying a bloodstained bag of what appeared to be dead rats. 'I've just been feeding Buckbeak,' he added, in reply to Harry's enquiring look. 'I keep him upstairs in my mother's bedroom. **

"You keep Buckbeak in your mother's bedroom?" asked Harry incredulously.

"I can't find anywhere else that is big enough to put him," said Sirius shrugging.

"You just like the fact that you put a hippogriff in your mother's room," laughed Remus and Sirius grinned wickedly.

"Do you have like a garden shed or anything?" asked Hermione, her brow furrowed as she looked at Sirius.

"Um, I think there is one in the backyard, but it's all over grown and you can't really get out there," Sirius told her and she frowned again.

"Well, if you cleaned it up, then you couldn't you put an undetectable extension charm on the shed and turn it into a barn or something?"

"Yeah, I suppose that would work, and Buckbeak would probably be more comfortable out there," said Sirius looking thoughtful.

"And you would be able to go out and sit in the sun wouldn't you?" added Ron. Sirius smiled, he wouldn't be able to fly or run or do anything he wanted to but going out in the sun would be nice.

**Anyway . . . this writing desk . . .'**

**He dropped the bag of rats into an armchair,**

"It is always fun to feed dead rats to Buckbeak," said Sirius grinning maliciously.

"Yes I'm sure you would find it quite soothing," whispered Emmeline laughing under her breath as Sirius wriggled his eyebrows and grinned again.

**then bent over to examine the locked cabinet which, Harry now noticed for the first time, was shaking slightly.**

**'Well, Molly, I'm pretty sure this is a Boggart,' said Sirius, peering through the keyhole, 'but perhaps we ought to let Mad-Eye have a shifty at it before we let it out - knowing my mother, it could be something much worse.'**

**'Right you are, Sirius,' said Mrs Weasley.**  
**They were both speaking in carefully light, polite voices that told Harry quite plainly that neither had forgotten their disagreement of the night before.**

"Oh stop looking at us like that," cried Molly looking over the top of the book to see people staring at her and Sirius. "It's all sorted, we're fine," she told the room sternly as Sirius nodded, then turning back to the book she started to read again.

**A loud, clanging bell sounded from downstairs, followed at once by the cacophony of screams and wails that had been triggered the previous night by Tonks knocking over the umbrella stand.**

Tonks winced and Sirius groaned. "If you all keep on ringing that damn thing I'm going to rip it out!" he cried exasperated.

**'I keep telling them not to ring the doorbell!' said Sirius exasperatedly, hurrying out of the room. They heard him thundering clown the stairs as Mrs Black's screeches echoed up through the house once more:**  
**'Stains of dishonour, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth . . .'**

"She needs new insults," Sirius muttered flippantly.

**'Close the door, please, Harry,' said Mrs Weasley.**

**Harry took as much time as he dared to close the drawing-room door; he wanted to listen to what was going on downstairs. Sirius had obviously managed to shut the curtains over his mother's portrait because she had stopped screaming. He heard Sirius walking down the hall, then the clattering of the chain on the front door, and then a deep voice he recognised as Kingsley Shacklebolt's saying, 'Hestia's just relieved me, so she's got Moody's Cloak now, thought I'd leave a report for Dumbledore . . .'**

"Moody's cloak? Is it an invisibility cloak?" asked Harry curiously.

"Yes it is, good observation," nodded Moody, while Molly scowled. How was she supposed to keep the children safe and out of trouble if people insisted on telling them things they didn't need to know.

**Feeling Mrs Weasley's eyes on the back of his head, Harry regretfully closed the drawing-room door and rejoined the Doxy party.**  
**Mrs Weasley was bending over to check the page on Doxys in Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests, which was lying open on the sofa.**

"I can't believe you kept that rubbish," cried Fred.

"He's a fraud Mum!" yelled Ron who still wasn't over the fact that the ponce had tried to wipe his and Harry's memories.

"I know perfectly what he is and what he tried to do, but that doesn't mean that the information in those books isn't accurate just because he wrote them."

**'Right, you lot, you need to be careful, because Doxys bite and their teeth are poisonous. I've got a bottle of antidote here, but I'd rather nobody needed it.'**  
**She straightened up, positioned herself squarely in front of the curtains and beckoned them all forward.**

**'When I say the word, start spraying immediately,' she said. They'll come flying out at us, I expect, but it says on the sprays one good squirt will paralyse them. When they're immobilized, just throw them in this bucket.'**

"Well this has suddenly gotten very interesting," said George sarcastically.

**She stepped carefully out of their line of fire, and raised her own spray.**

**'All right - squirt!'**

**Harry had been spraying only a few seconds when a fully-grown Doxy came soaring out of a fold in the material, shiny beetle-like wings whirring, tiny needle-sharp teeth bared, its fairy-like body covered with thick black hair and its four tiny fists clenched with fury. Harry caught it full in the face with a blast of Doxycide. It froze in mid-air **

"Is it just me or does that remind you of Hermione casting that immobulus spell on those Cornish-Pixies in second year?" Ron asked Harry. Harry pictured the scene in his mind and laughed as Hermione giggled.

"Cornish-Pixies?" asked Bill, confused as to why Hermione had to have frozen them at all.

"It was the only practical defence lesson we had ever had before we got Professor Lupin as a teacher, Lockhart let a cage of the things loose in the classroom," explained Hermione. Bill looked a little shocked, what kind of idiot let loose a cage full of Cornish-Pixies, evidently, he had never met Lockhart.

**and fell, with a surprisingly loud thunk, on to the worn carpet below. Harry picked it up and threw it in the bucket.**  
**'Fred, what are you doing?' said Mrs Weasley sharply. 'Spray that at once and throw it away!'**  
**Harry looked round. Fred was holding a struggling Doxy between his forefinger and thumb.**  
**'Right-o,' Fred said brightly, spraying the Doxy quickly in the face so that it fainted, but the moment Mrs Weasley's back was turned he pocketed it with a wink.**

"Uh-oh," said the Twins together moving away from their mother who was sitting behind them. "Sorry Harry, I think the secret is out," said Fred apologetically.

"What secret?" asked Sirius as well as Remus, Hermione and the rest of the Weasley's.

Harry shrugged but was wincing internally, "It'll probably say in a minute," was all he said.

**'We want to experiment with Doxy venom for our Skiving Snackboxes,' George told Harry under his breath.**  
**Deftly spraying two Doxys at once as they soared straight for his nose, Harry moved closer to George and muttered out of the corner of his mouth, 'What are Skiving Snackboxes?'**

"I thought I said no about the joke shop, it's not a proper job!" exclaimed Molly glaring at the Twins.

"It is too a proper job and you can't tell us what to do anymore, we're of age!" Fred stated angrily.

**'Range of sweets to make you ill,' George whispered, **

"What!" cried Molly.

"Dear, calm down I'm sure it's fine," said Arthur soothingly as Molly relaxed a little but didn't stop glaring at the Twins.

**keeping a wary eye on Mrs Weasley's back. 'Not seriously ill, mind, just ill enough to get you out of a class when you feel like it. Fred and I have been developing them this summer. They're double-ended, colour-coded chews. If you eat the orange half of the Puking Pastilles, you throw up. Moment you've been rushed out of the lesson for the hospital wing, you swallow the purple half - '**

**' " - which restores you to full fitness, enabling you to pursue the leisure activity of your own choice during an hour that would otherwise have been devoted to unprofitable boredom." **

"That sounds brilliant! Moony, how come we never did anything like that?" exclaimed Sirius who was smiling widely.

"Because Minerva would have murdered us in our sleep, and we had enough fun blowing things up and creating the Map and such," Remus answered.

"Are you kidding, Minnie loves us she wouldn't do that," he paused wincing at the doubtful look on Remus's face. "Okay so she would have killed us, but that was you who blew stuff up," Sirius laughed.

"You blew stuff up?" asked Tonks in awe, who knew that Remus had been so naughty when he was younger, was it just her or was he even more sexy than he was at breakfast? Remus blushed Weasley red at some of the disbelieving looks around the room.

"It was only once, or twice, okay it was three times but the time with the entire bathroom was an accident," he said very quickly before going even redder when Harry, Ron, the Twins, Tonks and Sirius laughed.

"I told you he was the one to watch," smirked Sirius as Molly shook her head in disbelief and kept reading.

**That's what we're putting in the adverts, anyway,' whispered Fred, who had edged over out of Mrs Weasley's line of vision and was now sweeping a few stray Doxys from the floor and adding them to his pocket. 'But they still need a bit of work. At the moment our testers are having a bit of trouble stopping themselves puking long enough to swallow the purple end.'**

"And who have you been using these on? It better had not be Ron or Ginny," Molly growled.

Fred sighed, but it was George, who answered,

"No Mum we test them on ourselves," he said quietly, and Molly's glare softened for a second.

**Testers?'**

**'Us,' said Fred. 'We take it in turns. George did the Fainting Fancies - we both tried the Nosebleed Nougat - '**

**'Mum thought we'd been duelling,' said George.**

"Is that what that was?" asked Ron, who had long since learnt not to question the Twins on what they were doing, especially if there were explosions coming from their room.

**'Joke shop still on, then?' Harry muttered, pretending to be adjusting the nozzle on his spray.**

**'Well, we haven't had a chance to get premises yet,' said Fred, dropping his voice even lower as Mrs Weasley mopped her brow with her scarf before returning to the attack, 'so we're running it as a mail-order service at the moment. We put advertisements in the Daily Prophet last week.'**

Molly stopped reading to stare at Harry, who nodded for her to keep reading.

**'All thanks to you, mate,' said George. **

**'But don't worry . . . Mum hasn't got a clue. She won't read the Daily Prophet anymore, 'cause of it telling lies about you and Dumbledore.'**  
**Harry grinned. He had forced the Weasley twins to take the thousand Galleons prize money he had won in the Triwizard Tournament to help them realise their ambition to open a joke shop, **

Sirius lent down so he was level with Harry's ear, "I'm so proud of you Pup and I know James and Lily would be proud as well," he whispered and Harry beamed.

**but he was still glad to know that his part in furthering their plans was unknown to Mrs Weasley. She did not think running a joke shop was a suitable career for two of her sons.**

Arthur sighed, from the sounds of things Molly would just have to accept that the Twins would not be working for the Ministry, she would come around eventually, he just hoped they wouldn't start fighting like Percy and he did because of it.

**The de-Doxying of the curtains took most of the morning. It was past midday when Mrs Weasley finally removed her protective scarf, sank into a sagging armchair and sprang up again with a cry of disgust, having sat on the bag of dead rats. **

The room laughed as Sirius, who was trying to look innocent while he tried to hide behind Emmeline to get away from Molly's glare.

**The curtains were no longer buzzing; they hung limp and damp from the intensive spraying. At the foot of them unconscious Doxys lay crammed in the bucket beside a bowl of their black eggs, at which Crook-shanks was now sniffing and Fred and George were shooting covetous looks.**

**'I think we'll tackle those after lunch.' Mrs Weasley pointed at the dusty glass-fronted cabinets standing on either side of the mantelpiece. They were crammed with an odd assortment of objects: a selection of rusty daggers, claws, a coiled snakeskin, a number of tarnished silver boxes inscribed with languages Harry could not understand and, least pleasant of all, an ornate crystal bottle with a large opal set into the stopper, full of what Harry was quite sure was blood.**

Sirius stood and walked over to the cabinets. Some of the silver boxes were there, only they were shining and the crystal bottle looked as though it had been cleaned and emptied. It was amazing how much trouble those two boys gone to.

**The clanging doorbell rang again. Everyone looked at Mrs Weasley**  
**'Stay here,' she said firmly, snatching up the bag of rats as Mrs Blacks screeches started up again from down below. 'I'll bring up some sandwiches.'**  
**She left the room, closing the door carefully behind her. At once, everyone dashed over to the window to look down on the doorstep. They could see the top of an unkempt gingery head and a suck of precariously balanced cauldrons.**

"That is it, I'm going to kill him, he can't use Headquarters as a hideout for his stolen goods!" yelled Molly.

"Calm down dear, he can't hear you, so there is no point in telling him off," Arthur commented mildly.

**'Mundungus!' said Hermione. 'What's he brought all those cauldrons for?'**

**'Probably looking for a safe place to keep them,' said Harry. 'Isn't that what he was doing the night he was supposed to be tailing me? Picking up dodgy cauldrons?'**

**'Yeah, you're right!' said Fred, as the front door opened; Mundungus heaved his cauldrons through it and disappeared from view. 'Blimey, Mum won't like that . . .'**

"No, I will not," Molly growled under her breath, and the people in the room once again found themselves feeling sorry for the man.

**He and George crossed to the door and stood beside it, listening closely. Mrs Black's screaming had stopped.**

**'Mundungus is talking to Sirius and Kingsley,' Fred muttered, frowning with concentration. 'Can't hear properly . . . d'you reckon we can risk the Extendable Ears?'**

**'Might be worth it,' said George. 'I could sneak upstairs and get a pair - '**  
**But at that precise moment there was an explosion of sound from downstairs that rendered Extendable Ears quite unnecessary. **

"Oh joy," commented Snape under his breath so nobody could hear him. Molly was one of the few Order members he could stand, but her screeching was almost unbearable.

**All of them could hear exactly what Mrs Weasley was shouting at the top of her voice.**  
**'WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HIDEOUT FOR STOLEN GOODS!'**

Remus winced at the pitch of Molly's voice.

**'I love hearing Mum shouting at someone else,' said Fred, with a satisfied smile on his face as he opened the door an inch or so to allow Mrs Weasley's voice to permeate the room better, 'it makes such a nice change.'**

Molly glared at her son but made no comment.

**' - COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE, AS IF WE HAVEN'T GOT ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT WITHOUT YOU DRAGGING STOLEN CAULDRONS INTO THE HOUSE - '**

**The idiots are letting her get into her stride,' said George, **

"I'll give you a stride, George Fabian Weasley," said Molly scowling as George gulped and Fred sniggered then Molly turned her look on him and he gulped to, sinking further into the pillows.

**shaking his head. 'You've got to head her off early otherwise she builds up a head of steam and goes on for hours. And she's been dying to have a go at Mundungus ever since he sneaked off when he was supposed to be following you, Harry - and there goes Sirius's mum again.'**

**Mrs Weasley's voice was lost amid fresh shrieks and screams from the portraits in the hall.**

"Figures, only my mother could out shout Molly," said Sirius rolling his eyes.

**George made to shut the door to drown the noise, but before he could do so, a house-elf edged into the room.**  
**Except for the filthy rag tied like a loincloth around its middle, it was completely naked. It looked very old. Its skin seemed to be several times too big for it and, though it was bald like all house-elves, there was a quantity of white hair growing out of its large, batlike ears. Its eyes were a bloodshot and watery grey and its fleshy nose was large and rather snout like.**

"That's Kreacher?" asked Harry sound as though he had never heard of some as unpleasant as that, and he lived with the Dursley's.

**The elf took absolutely no notice of Harry and the rest. Acting as though it could not see them, it shuffled hunchbacked, slowly and doggedly, towards the far end of the room, all the while muttering under its breath in a hoarse, deep voice like a bullfrog's.**

**'. . . smells like a drain and a criminal to boot, but she's no better, nasty old blood traitor with her brats messing up my mistress's house, oh, my poor mistress, if she knew, if she knew the scum they've let into her house, what would she say to old Kreacher, oh, the shame of it, Mudbloods and werewolves and traitors and thieves, poor old Kreacher, what can he do . . .'**

"I love how he just managed to insult nearly everyone in here in one sentence," the Twins laughed.

**'Hello, Kreacher,' said Fred very loudly, closing the door with a snap.**

**The house-elf froze in his tracks, stopped muttering, and gave a very pronounced and very unconvincing start of surprise.**

**'Kreacher did not see young master,' he said, turning around and bowing to Fred. Still lacing the carpet, he added, perfectly audibly, 'Nasty little brat of a blood traitor it is.'**

**'Sorry?' said George. 'Didn't catch that last bit.'**

**'Kreacher said nothing,' said the elf, with a second box to George, adding in a clear undertone, 'and there its twin, unnatural little beasts they are.'**

"That's so true," Harry joked to Ron who laughed.

"Awe I didn't know you thought so highly of us, that's so sweet," said Fred sarcastically rolling his eyes at Harry and his brother.

**Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not. The elf straightened up, eyeing them all malevolently, and apparently convinced that they could not hear him as he continued to mutter.**

**'. . . and there's the**

Molly paused, giving Hermione an apologetic glance before continuing.

**Mudblood, standing there bold as brass, oh if my mistress knew, oh, how she'd cry, and there's a new boy, Kreacher doesn't know his name. What is he doing here? Kreacher doesn't know . . ."**

"We don't know either Kreacher," said George shaking his head.

"Yeah, he just turned up here yesterday and we thought we had better let him stay," sighed Fred looking regretful. Harry glared at them while the room laughed at the Twins antics.

**This is Harry, Kreacher,' said Hermione tentatively. 'Harry Potter.'**  
**Kreacher's pale eyes widened and he muttered faster and more furiously than ever.**

'**The Mudblood is talking to Kreacher as though she is my friend, if Kreacher's mistress saw him in such company, oh, what would she say - '**

"She'd probably have a heart attack or something, not that I'd mind," said Sirius sighing like he was thinking of something pleasant.

**'Don't call her a Mudblood!' said Ron and Ginny together, very angrily.**

**'It doesn't matter,' Hermione whispered, 'he's not in his tight mind, he doesn't know what he's - '**

"He knows exactly what he is saying Hermione, so if he says it again, tell me," Sirius told her. Hermione hesitated not sure if she would, but with a look from Ron and Harry, who seemed to know what she was thinking, she nodded which seemed to satisfy Sirius and he turned back to the reading.

**'Don't kid yourself, Hermione, he knows exactly what he's saying,' said Fred, eyeing Kreacher with great dislike.**  
**Kreacher was still muttering, his eyes on Harry.**

**'Is it true? Is it Harry Potter? Kreacher can see the scar, it must be true, that's the boy who stopped the Dark Lord, Kreacher wonders how he did it - '**

"I think that is something the whole wizarding world wants to know," said Kingsley looking at Harry who blushed.

**'Don't we all, Kreacher,' said Fred.**

**'What do you want, anyway?' George asked.**

**Kreacher's huge eyes darted towards George.**

**'Kreacher is cleaning,' he said evasively.**

**'A likely story,' said a voice behind Harry. **

**Sirius had come back; he was glowering at the elf from the doorway. The noise in the hall had abated; perhaps Mrs Weasley and Mundungus had moved their argument down into the kitchen. At the sight of Sirius, Kreacher flung himself into a ridiculously low bow that flattened his snoutlike nose on the floor.**

"He knows I hate it when he bows to me," Sirius said to the curious looks around the room.

**'Stand up straight,' said Sirius impatiently. 'Now, what are you up to?'**

**'Kreacher is cleaning,' the elf repeated. 'Kreacher lives to serve lie Noble House of Black - '**

**'And it's getting blacker every day, it's filthy,' said Sirius.**

Remus snorted, "You always did like a good pun didn't you," he said looking at Sirius who was grinning.

"It's not my fault my name is so punny," Sirius laughed.

"Yeah it's hilarious," said Remus sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. Those jokes hadn't been funny since their first year at Hogwarts, though he had to admit he hadn't heard that one before.

**'Master always liked his little joke,' said Kreacher, bowing again, and continuing in an undertone, 'Master was a nasty ungrateful swine who broke his mother's heart - '**

Sirius muttered something under his breath that made Remus snort and Emmeline smack him.

**'My mother didn't have a heart, Kreacher,' snapped Sirius. 'She kept herself alive out of pure spite.'**

**Kreacher bowed again as he spoke.**

**'Whatever Master says,' he muttered furiously. 'Master is not fit to wipe slime from his mother's boots, oh, my poor mistress, what would she say if she saw Kreacher serving him, how she hated him, what a disappointment he was - '**

Sirius glared at the book, wishing it would move on from his family all ready, he was in a bad enough mood without having to hear how much of a disappointment he apparently was.

**'I asked you what you were up to,' said Sirius coldly. 'Every time you show up pretending to be cleaning, you sneak something off to your room so we can't throw it out.'**

**'Kreacher would never move anything from its proper place in Master's house,' said the elf, then muttered very fast, 'Mistress would never forgive Kreacher if the tapestry was thrown out, seven centuries it's been in the family, Kreacher must save it, Kreacher will not let Master and the blood traitors and the brats destroy it - '**

"Pfft, like I'll be able to get rid of the bloody thing," Sirius commented loudly. The others looked across the room and sure enough on the very back wall hung a tapestry though they could see what it was of from here, or why it put Sirius in such a bad mood.

**'I thought it might be that,' said Sirius, casting a disdainful look at the opposite wall. **

**'She'll have put another Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of it, I don't doubt, but if I can get rid of it I certainly will. Now go away, Kreacher.'**  
**It seemed that Kreacher did not dare disobey a direct order; nevertheless, the look he gave Sirius as he shuffled out past him was full of deepest loathing and he muttered all the way out of the room.**

**' - comes back from Azkaban ordering Kreacher around, oh, my poor mistress, what would she say if she saw the house now, scum living in it, her treasures thrown out, she swore he was no son of hers and he's back, they say he's a murderer too - '**

Sirius growled, _that bloody elf_, he thought bitterly; _I'm going to end up killing him_.

**'Keep muttering and I will be a murderer!' said Sirius irritably as he slammed the door shut on the elf.**

**'Sirius, he's not right in the head,' Hermione pleaded, 'I don't think he realises we can hear him.'**

**'He's been alone too long,' said Sirius, 'taking mad orders from my mother's portrait and talking to himself, but he was always a foul little - '**

Sirius continued to mutter obscenities under his breath, his mood getting darker and darker the long they stayed on the topic of his family.

**'If you could just set him free,' said Hermione hopefully, 'maybe - '**

"Miss Granger, I know how you feel about House Elves, however it would not be prudent for Sirius to free Kreacher, he knows too much about the Order and it would be very likely that Kreacher would go straight to the other side and give away all of our secrets without a moment's hesitation," Dumbledore told Hermione gravely.

**'We can't set him free, he knows too much about the Order; said Sirius curtly. 'And anyway, the shock would kill him. You suggest to him that he leaves this house, see how he takes it.'**

**Sirius walked across the room to where the tapestry Kreacher had been trying to protect hung the length of the wall. Harry and the others followed.**

**The tapestry looked immensely old; it was laddered and looked as though Doxys had gnawed it in places. Nevertheless, the golden thread with which it was embroidered still glinted brightly enough to show them a sprawling family tree dating back (as far as Harry could tell) to the Middle Ages. Large words at the very top of the tapestry read:**

_**The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black**_  
_**Toujours pur'**_

"'Always Pure'" Sirius automatically translated. Then at Harry's questioning look he added,

"All Blacks have to learn French and we had to know the constellations off by heart as well, what with us being named after them and all."

**'You're not on here!' said Harry, after scanning the bottom of the tree closely.**

**'I used to be there,' said Sirius, pointing at a small, round, charred hole in the tapestry, rather like a cigarette burn. 'My sweet old mother blasted me off after I ran away from home - Kreacher's quite fond of muttering the story under his breath.'**

Harry was shocked, Sirius had run away? He was about to voice is astonishment when the book did it for him. He guessed that was one of the perks of the book from being in his perspective.

**'You ran away from home?'**

**'When I was about sixteen,' said Sirius. 'I'd had enough.'**

**'Where did you go?' asked Harry, staring at him.**

**'Your dad's place,' said Sirius. **

Sirius and Remus smiled at the memories of staying at Potter Manor when they were younger.

**'Your grandparents were really good about it; they sort of adopted me as a second son. Yeah, I camped out at your dads in the school holidays, and when I was seventeen I got a place of my own. My Uncle Alphard had left me a decent bit of gold - he's been wiped off here, too, that's probably why - anyway, after that I looked after myself. I was always welcome at Mr and Mrs Potters for Sunday lunch, though.'**

**'But . . . why did you . . .?'**

**'Leave?' Sirius smiled bitterly and ran his fingers through his long, unkempt hair. **

"You need a haircut as well young man," Molly said sternly suddenly interrupting herself.

**'Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal . . . my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them . . . that's him.'**

Sirius sighed and closed his eyes; that had been the final straw. He could deal with having parents that hated him and a family that could barely look at him without some obscene comment, but when he found out that his baby brother was taking the Dark Mark…he left, and he had never come back…until now.

**Sirius jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the tree, at the name 'Regulus Black'. A date of death (some fifteen years previously) followed the date of birth.**

**'He was younger than me,' said Sirius, 'and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.'**

"How old was he?" asked Ginny quietly

"Eighteen or nineteen, I'm not sure, but he was fresh out of Hogwarts," said Sirius blinking the tears out of his eyes before they could fall.

**'But he died,' said Harry.**

**'Yeah,' said Sirius. 'Stupid idiot . . . he joined the Death Eaters.'**

"He was a Death Eater?" Harry couldn't help but blurt out, but Sirius didn't answer him.

**'You're kidding!'**

**'Come on, Harry, haven't you seen enough of this house to tell what kind of wizards my family were?' said Sirius testily.**

"Sorry Sirius I-" started Harry

"No don't apologise, I just don't like talking about my family," Sirius said quickly squeezing Harry's shoulder in reassurance.

**'Were - were your parents Death Eaters as well?'**

**'No, no, but believe me, they thought Voldemort had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the wizarding race, getting rid of Muggle-borns and having pure-bloods in charge. **

"We'd be gone in one or two generations then," it was surprising Ron who said this and when Hermione looked at him questioningly he continued, "Well dad had always said that we would probably be the last generation of purebloods in our family, Harry's dad was the last in his and the same with Sirius and there aren't many purebloods left anyhow because You-Know-Who killed all the ones that wouldn't join him," he finished.

"Who are you and what have you done with Ron Weasley?" George joked before Hermione could say anything.

"What?" asked Ron confused.

"You keep saying stuff that sounds smart, it's weird," Fred told him. Ron scowled at them, sinking back into the cushions, missing the impressed look from both his parents as well as Hermione.

**They weren't alone, either, there were quite a few people, before Voldemort showed his true colours, who thought he had the right idea about things… they got cold feet when they saw what he was prepared to do to get power, though. **

"What do you mean?" asked Kingsley hesitantly, he didn't want to upset Sirius.

"When he started to kill off some of the old pureblood families, like Ron said," Sirius answered nodding at Ron who beamed.

**But I bet my parents thought Regulus was a right little hero for joining up at first.'**

**'Was he killed by an Auror?' Harry asked tentatively.**

**'Oh, no,' said Sirius. 'No, he was murdered by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort's orders, more likely;**

"He wasn't," Snape said suddenly. Sirius frowned he knew that Snape had been friends with Regulus at school but had never asked him about his brother.

"What do you mean, how did he die then?" Sirius questioned him.

"Nobody knows, not even the Dark Lord. He just vanished one day, we all thought that some Auror got him but it was never reported," Snape said simply. As they dwelled on what could possibly have happened to Regulus they had seemed to have forgotten that they were talking civilly to each other for the first time in, well, ever.

**I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he: was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you don't just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It's a lifetime of service or death.'**

Sirius winced, feeling even worse about his brother's fate given the new information he had just been told by Snape.

**'Lunch,' said Mrs Weasley's voice.**

**She was holding her wand high in front of her, balancing a huge tray loaded with sandwiches and cake on its tip. She was very red in the face and still looked angry. The others moved over to her, eager for some food, but Harry remained with Sirius, who had bent closer to the tapestry.**

Sirius groaned at the thought of listening about his crazy relatives, it seemed Harry wasn't the only person this book was going to torment.

**'I haven't looked at this for years. There's Phineas Nigellus . . . my great-great-grandfather, see? . . . least popular Headmaster Hogwarts ever had . . . and Araminta Meliflua…cousin of my mother's…tried to force through a Ministry Bill to make Muggle-hunting legal…and dear Aunt Elladora…she started the family tradition of beheading house-elves when they got too old to carry tea trays…of course, any time the family produced someone halfway decent they were disowned.**

Molly stopped reading to process what she had just read, suddenly feeling a wave of sympathy and relief. Sympathy for Sirius for having to be related to those people and relief because the only ties she had with them were through marriage.

**I see Tonks isn't on here. Maybe that's why Kreacher won't take orders from her - he's supposed to do whatever anyone in the family asks him - '**

**'You and Tonks are related?' Harry asked, surprised.**

"Course, her mum is my favourite cousin," Sirius said loudly when Harry turned to look at him.

"What about me, I thought I was your favourite cousin," said Tonks, her hair turning mousey brown.

"Andy was born first, but you're my favourite second cousin," Sirius told her and her hair snapped back to bubble-gum pink as she leaned over Remus to hug Sirius, not that Remus was complaining.

**'Oh, yeah, her mother Andromeda was my favourite cousin, said Sirius, examining the tapestry closely. 'No, Andromeda's not on here either, look - '**  
**He pointed to another small round burn mark between two names, Bellatrix and Narcissa.**

**'Andromeda's sisters are still here because they made lovely, respectable pure-blood marriages, but Andromeda married a Muggle-born, Ted Tonks, so - '**  
**Sirius mimed blasting the tapestry with a wand and laughed sourly. **

Some of the people looked at Sirius a little oddly but didn't say anything, Sirius himself was thinking back to the night his mother had blasted him off the tapestry.

**Harry, however, did not laugh; he was too busy staring at the names to the right of Andromeda's burn mark. A double line of gold embroidery linked Narcissa Black with Lucius Malfoy and a single vertical gold line from their names led to the name Draco.**

**'You're related to the Malfoy's!'**

"Unfortunately, but I think you will find if you look back far enough into any halfbloods family history, you'll find that we are all related someway, like we," he said pointing between himself and Harry, "are related because your grandmother was my great aunt," Sirius smiled at the mention of Mrs Potter. "And I think I am some kind of distant relative of Remus's," he added shifting his gaze to Remus who nodded.

"My father was a pureblood so probably," he said turning to smile at Harry.

**The pure-blood families are all interrelated, said Sirius. 'If you're only going to let your sons and daughters marry pure-bloods our choice is very limited; there are hardly any of us left. Molly and I are cousins by marriage and Arthur's something like my second cousin once removed. But there's no point looking for then on here - if ever a family was a bunch of blood traitors it's the Weaseys.'**

**But Harry was now looking at the name to the left of Andromeda's burn: Bellatrix Black, which was connected by a double line to Rodolphus Lestrange.**

Harry frowned, that name sounded strangely familiar.

**'Lestrange . . .' Harry said aloud. The name had stirred something in his memory; he knew it from somewhere, but for a moment he couldn't think where, though it gave him an odd, creeping sensation in the pit of his stomach.**

**'They're in Azkaban,' said Sirius shortly.**

**Harry looked at him curiously.**

**'Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus came in with Barty Crouch junior,' said Sirius, in the same brusque voice. 'Rodolphuss brother Rabastan was with them, too.'**

Harry gasped, he had remembered who they were and just gestured to the book when Hermione asked him what was wrong.

**Then Harry remembered. He had seen Bellatrix Lestrange inside Dumbledore's Pensieve, the strange device in which thoughts and memories could be stored: a tall dark woman with heavy-lidded eyes, who had stood at her trial and proclaimed her continuing allegiance to Lord Voldemort, her pride that she had tried to find him after his downfall and her conviction that she would one day be rewarded for her loyalty.**

"She's not exactly pleasant is she," stated Tonks. She had the pleasure of meeting her aunty on a trip to Azkaban she had taken with Moody when she had just started out as an Auror.

**'You never said she was your - '**

**'Does it matter if she's my cousin?' snapped Sirius. 'As far as I'm concerned, they're not my family. She's certainly not my family. I haven't seen her since I was your age, unless you count a glimpse of her coming into Azkaban. D'you think I'm proud of having a relative like her?'**

"Sorry Harry I shouldn't have snapped," Sirius apologised.

"It's okay, you're just frustrated," Harry told him with a small grin.

**'Sorry,' said Harry quickly, 'I didn't mean - I was just surprised, that's all - '**

**'It doesn't matter, don't apologise,' Sirius mumbled. He turned away from the tapestry, his hands deep in his pockets. 'I don't like being back here,' he said, staring across the drawing room. 'I never thought I'd be stuck in this house again.'**  
**Harry understood completely. He knew how he would feel, when he was grown up and thought he was free of the place for ever, to return and live at number four, Privet Drive.**

Sirius flinched, if he had been there, if he hadn't been stupid enough to trust that traitorous bastard Pettigrew then Harry wouldn't know what it felt like, his childhood would have been so different. He relaxed slightly as he felt Harry lean back against his legs finding comfort in his godson's touch.

**'It's ideal for Headquarters, of course; Sirius said. 'My father put every security measure known to wizardkind on it when he lived here. It's unplottable, so Muggles could never come and call - as if they'd ever have wanted to - and now Dumbledore's added his protection, you'd be hard put to find a safer house anywhere. **

_It's still driving him slowly insane though_ thought Remus darkly. It wasn't people on the outside trying to get in that worried him. It was Sirius trying to get out.

**Dumbledore is Secret Keeper for the Order, you know - nobody can find Headquarters unless he tells them personally where it is - that note Moody showed you last night, that was from Dumbledore . . .' Sirius gave a short, bark-like laugh. 'If my parents could see the use their house was being put to now . . . well, my mother's portrait should give you some idea.**

**He scowled for a moment, then sighed.**

**'I wouldn't mind if I could just get out occasionally and do something useful. I've asked Dumbledore whether I can escort you, to your hearing - as Snuffles, obviously - so I can give you a bit of moral support, what d'you think?'**

Sirius sighed he knew it wasn't going to happen, but he had to try, that's why it was called wishful thinking wasn't it?

"I wish you could come," whispered Harry who had turned around to face him. Sirius smiled at the boy in front of him.

**Harry felt as though his stomach had sunk through the dusty carpet. He had not thought about the hearing once since dinner the previous evening; in the excitement of being back with the people he liked best, and hearing everything that was going on, it had completely flown his mind. At Sirius's words, however, the crushing sense of dread returned to him. He stared at Hermione and the Weasleys, all tucking into their sandwiches, and thought how he would feel if they went back to Hogwarts without him.**

"You'll be fine," Arthur told Harry soothingly.

**'Don't worry,' Sirius said. Harry looked up and realised that Sirius had been watching him. 'I'm sure they'll clear you, there's definitely something in the International Statute of Secrecy about being allowed to use magic to save your own life.'**

"Yes Black there is _definitely something_ in the Stature of Secrecy," Snape sneered sarcastically.

"Shut up Snape," Sirius growled, he was in no mood for Snape at the moment.

**But if they do expel me,' said Harry quietly, 'can I come back here and live with you?'**  
**Sirius smiled sadly.**

**'We'll see.'**

**'I'd feel a lot better about the hearing if I knew I didn't have to go back to the Dursleys',' Harry pressed him.**

**They must be bad if you prefer this place,' said Sirius gloomily.**

"Yeah and now I know why," said Sirius scathingly, glaring at the book while Remus growled and Harry winced slightly.

**'Hurry up, you two, or there won't be any food left,' Mrs Weasley called.**  
**Sirius heaved another great sigh, cast a dark look at the tapestry, then he and Harry went to join the others.**

"Thank Merlin," Sirius grumbled to himself.

**Harry tried his best not to think about the hearing while he emptied the glass-fronted cabinets that afternoon. Fortunately for him, it was a job that required a lot of concentration, as many of the objects in there seemed very reluctant to leave their dusty shelves. **

"I bet they would," said Sirius to himself, who knows what kind of spells and enchantments where on the things that were lying around in this house.

**Sirius sustained a bad bite from a silver snuffbox; within seconds his bitten hand had developed an unpleasant crusty covering like a tough brown glove.**

**'It's OK,' he said, examining the hand with interest before tapping it lightly with his wand and restoring its skin to normal, 'must be Wartcap powder in there.'**

"You said that on purpose!" exclaimed Remus.

"Well I must know about the joke shop, and figure it will be good for something," Sirius shrugged. "Besides, I am a Marauder," he added as if it was the answer to everything, which in this case, it very nearly was.

**He threw the box aside into the sack where they were depositing the debris from the cabinets; Harry saw George wrap his own hand carefully in a cloth moments later and sneak the box into his already Doxy-filled pocket.**

Arthur chuckled at the look on his son's faces at Molly glared at them.

**They found an unpleasant-looking silver instrument, something like a many-legged pair of tweezers, which scuttled up Harry's arm like a spider when he picked it up, and attempted to puncture his skin. Sirius seized it and smashed it with a heavy book entitled Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy. **

"That has to be the only good thing that book is good for," stated Sirius moodily.

**There was a musical box that emitted a faintly sinister, tinkling tune when wound, and they all found themselves becoming curiously weak and sleepy, until Ginny had the sense to slam the lid shut; **

"Good work Miss Weasley, we may survive this war yet," commented Moody once again ignoring Molly as she scowled at him.

**a heavy locket that none of them could open; a number of ancient seals;**

"They were still in the cabinet; I wonder why _Harry_ and _Ron_ left them there?" Sirius asked nobody in particular.

**and, in a dusty box, an Order of Merlin, First Class, that had been awarded to Sirius's grandfather for 'services to the Ministry'.**  
**'It means he gave them a load of gold,' said Sirius contemptuously throwing the medal into the rubbish sack.**

"He got a medal for that?" asked Ginny incredulously as Sirius narrowed his eyes and nodded stiffly.

**Several times Kreacher sidled into the room and attempted to smuggle things away under his loincloth, muttering horrible curses every time they caught him at it. When Sirius wrested a large golden ring bearing the Black crest from his grip, Kreacher actually burst into furious tears and left the room sobbing under his breath and calling Sirius names Harry had never heard before.**

"Sirius!" yelled Molly and Sirius flinched.

"Sorry Molly won't happen again, well, this time" he said sheepishly.

**'It was my father's,' said Sirius, throwing the ring into the sack. 'Kreacher wasn't quite as devoted to him as to my mother, but I still caught him snogging a pair of my father's old trousers last week.'**

Emmeline, Molly, Hermione and Ginny wrinkled their noses while the boys laughed at the mental image.

**Mrs Weasley kept them all working very hard over the next few days. The drawing room took three days to decontaminate.**

"THREE DAYS!" Molly shouted. It seemed it had taken the boys three hours at the most to do this room up. How in the world did they manage all of this in just a couple of hours? The rest of the room was shocked as well, even Snape, how could they have pulled this off?

**Finally, the only undesirable things left in it were the tapestry of the Black family tree, which resisted all their attempts to remove it from the wall, and the rattling writing desk. Moody had not dropped by Headquarters yet, so they could not be sure what was inside it.**

**They moved from the drawing room to a dining room on the ground floor where they found spiders as large as saucers lurking in the dresser (Ron left the room hurriedly to make a cup of tea and did not return for an hour and a half). **

The Twins burst out laughing, but were instantly silent when they saw both Harry and Hermione glaring at them.

"What, it wasn't that bad, it's just spiders," said Fred innocently.

"Then why is his boggart a spider?" asked Hermione coldly. The Twins were stunned; they didn't know that they had really scared their brother. Fred was feeling particularly guilty; it was him after all that changed Ron's teddy bear in the first place. Ron on the other hand beamed at his friends for telling his brothers off.

**The china, which bore the Black crest and motto, was all thrown unceremoniously into a sack by Sirius, and the same fate met a set of old photographs in tarnished silver frames, all of whose occupants squealed shrilly as the glass covering them smashed.**

"You should at least keep the photographs Sirius, and if you don't want them my mum might," said Tonks and Sirius nodded.

**Snape might refer to their work as 'cleaning', but in Harry's opinion they were really waging war on the house, which was putting up a very good fight, aided and abetted by Kreacher. **

Snape rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything; threat of Dumbledore asking Molly to get him to help clean last night was still fresh in his mind.

**The house-elf kept appearing wherever they were congregated, his muttering becoming more and more offensive as he attempted to remove anything he could from the rubbish sacks. Sirius went as far as to threaten him with clothes, but Kreacher fixed him with a watery stare and said, 'Master must do as Master wishes,' before turning away and muttering very loudly, 'but Master will not turn Kreacher away, no, because Kreacher knows what they are up to, oh yes, he is plotting against the Dark Lord, yes, with these Mudblood and traitors and scum . . .'**

Sirius growled at the thought of Kreacher giving them away. Emmeline rested her head on Sirius shoulder, successfully diverting his attention from the book and elf. He stared at the top of her head and felt something stir in him that he hadn't felt in years. He was so entranced that he missed the exchange between Remus and Tonks as they whispered about him together, he also missed the start of the next sentence as Molly continued to read.

**At which Sirius, ignoring Hermione's protests, seized Kreacher by the back of his loincloth and threw him bodily from the room.**

"Sirius!" cried Hermione and Molly, she didn't like the elf, but that didn't mean that he had to get physical.

**The doorbell rang several times a day, which was the cue for Sirius's mother to start shrieking again, and for Harry and the others to attempt to eavesdrop on the visitor, though they gleaned very little from the brief glimpses and snatches of conversation they were able to sneak before Mrs Weasley recalled them to their tasks. Snape flitted in and out of the house several times more, though to Harry's relief they never came face to face; **

"Thank Merlin," Harry muttered as Snape sneered at him.

**Harry also caught sight of his Transfiguration teacher Professor McGonagall, looking very odd in a Muggle dress and coat, and she also seemed too busy to linger. Sometimes, however, the visitors stayed to help. Tonks joined them for a memorable afternoon in which they found a murderous old ghoul lurking in an upstairs toilet, and Lupin, who was staying in the house with Sirius but who left it for long periods to do mysterious work for the Order, helped them repair a grandfather clock that had developed the unpleasant habit of shooting heavy bolts at passers-by.**

Tonks laughed, it did sound like fun, even if it was highly dangerous, but still, she got to spend time with her cousin, Harry and Remus as well as Hermione and the Weasley's which was a pretty good bonus.

**Mundungus redeemed himself slightly in Mrs Weasley's eyes by rescuing Ron from an ancient set of purple robes that had tried to strangle him when he removed them from their wardrobe.**

Ron's ears turned red at the thought of being strangled to death by a set of purple robes as the Twins sniggered, but were quiet when Bill glared at them.

**Despite the fact that he was still sleeping badly, still having dreams about corridors and locked doors that made his scar prickle, Harry was managing to have fun for the first time all summer.**

"Well that is an accomplishment in its self," laughed Bill.

**As long as he was busy he was happy; when the action abated, however, whenever he dropped his guard, or lay exhausted in bed watching blurred shadows move across the ceiling, the thought of the looming Ministry hearing returned to him. **  
**Fear jabbed at his insides like needles as he wondered what was going to happen to him if he was expelled. **

"Oh great, at least I will have something to look forward to then," commented Harry sarcastically.

"At least if it's in the book you'll know how it will go, then you won't have to worry about it," Hermione told him comfortingly.

**The idea was so terrible that he did not dare voice it aloud, not even to Ron and Hermione, who, though he often saw them whispering together and casting anxious looks in his direction, followed his lead in not mentioning it. **

"Really, I thought you three talked about everything together," exclaimed Ginny surprised.

"It depends on what it is, if we tell each other or not," said Harry quietly.

**Sometimes, he could not prevent his imagination showing him a faceless Ministry official who was snapping his wand in two and ordering him back to the Dursleys' . . . but he would not go. He was determined on that. He would come back here to Grimmauld Place and live with Sirius.**

Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore frowned, all three of them knew that it was very unlikely that that would happen.

**He felt as though a brick had dropped into his stomach when Mrs Weasley turned to him during dinner on Wednesday evening and said quietly, 'I've ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, Harry, and I want you to wash your hair tonight, too. A good first impression can work wonders.'**  
**Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny all stopped talking and looked over at him. Harry nodded and tried to keep eating his chop, but his mouth had become so dry he could not chew.**

**'How am I getting there?' he asked Mrs Weasley, trying to sound unconcerned.**

**'Arthur's taking you to work with him,' said Mrs Weasley gently.**  
**Mr Weasley smiled encouragingly at Harry across the table.**

**'You can wait in my office until it's time for the hearing,' he said.**

"Thank you Mr Weasley," Harry said politely and Arthur smiled.

**Harry looked over at Sirius, but before he could ask the question, Mrs Weasley had answered it.**

**'Professor Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for Sirius to go with you, and I must say I - '**

**' - think he's quite right,' said Sirius through clenched teeth.**  
**Mrs Weasley pursed her lips.**

"I'm sorry Sirius," said Molly but he waved her off, he knew it wasn't going to happen so there was no point in dwelling on it.

**'When did Dumbledore tell you that?' Harry said, staring at Sirius.**

**'He came last night, when you were in bed,' said Mr Weasley**  
**Sirius stabbed moodily at a potato with his fork. Harry lowered his own eyes to his plate. The thought that Dumbledore had been in the house on the eve of his hearing and not asked to see him made him feel if it were possible, even worse.**

"That's the end of the chapter," said Molly as she put the book back on the coffee table.

"Sir, why are you avoiding looking at me?" Harry asked Dumbledore suddenly. Dumbledore sighed and still not quite looking Harry in the eyes said,

"I'm sure it will come up later in the books and if it doesn't than I will tell you myself," Dumbledore explained. Harry nodded but he didn't look very impressed.

During the sudden lull in the conversation as well as the reading, most likely while everybody was thinking about what had happened in the book, Sirius rose slowly from his seat and walked over to the tapestry at the other end of the room. It was the only part of the wall the wasn't blue so it stood out, but it seemed different, it wasn't overbearing like he had found it to be when he was younger, it was more like it was complimenting the room than anything else. As he came closer he could see that it too had been repaired. The tapestry was no longer as faded, nor did it have the marks where the Doxys had gnawed on it, but that wasn't what made Sirius gasp and stop dead in his tracks.

"How…they…Merlin…" he yelled disjointedly unable to contain his disbelief.

"Sirius, what's the matter what are you yelling about?" came Emmeline's voice from behind him.

But Sirius didn't answer. He was too busy staring at the bottom of the tapestry where his eyes had automatically travelled to search for something he knew they wouldn't find, and that was had made him gasp, stunning him into silence. Sirius didn't answer because he was looking at his _name_.


	11. The Ministry of Magic

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling. Thanks for the reviews guys every single one makes my day :)**

* * *

"What's the matter Sirius, what are you staring at?" asked Emmeline as she walked up behind Sirius. Sirius however, still couldn't bring himself to speak; all he could do was to point at the tapestry. Emmeline shifted her gaze to the Black family tree and gasped, she was staring right at Sirius's name, which they had just learnt had been removed when he ran away. In fact, it looked as though every name that ever had been removed was back in its rightful place, some names like Tonks and her father had even been added. Emmeline stared at the tapestry for what felt like forever and by that point most of the group had come over to see what the fuss was about, only to stop as well and marvel at the repaired family tree.

It took the group almost ten minutes to return to their seats as they marvelled at the old tapestry. Once everybody was comfortably seated Hermione picked up the book and turned to Ron.

"Here, Ron, you can read," said Hermione passing him the book.

Ron cleared his throat and read, "**The Ministry of Magic**."

**Harry awoke at half past five the next morning as abruptly and completely as if somebody had yelled in his ear. **

"I hate that feeling," said Tonks, it was perhaps worse than the feeling that she was falling off a broom just as she was drifting off to sleep.

**For a few moments he lay immobile as the prospect of the disciplinary hearing filled every tiny particle of his brain, then, unable to bear it, he leapt out of bed and put on his glasses. Mrs Weasley had laid out his freshly laundered jeans and T-shirt at the foot of his bed. Harry scrambled into them. The blank picture on the wall sniggered.**

**Ron was lying sprawled on his back with his mouth wide open, fast asleep.**

Ron's ears turned red as he finished reading the description he turned to Harry and stated hotly, "I do not look like that when I sleep."

"Sorry mate, but you do," Harry said grinning making Ron's ears turn redder still. "Besides, how would you know if you're asleep at the time?" he added but Ron ignored him, instead choosing to continue reading.

**He did not stir as Harry crossed the room, stepped out on to the landing and closed the door softly behind him. Trying net to think of the next time he would see Ron, when they might no longer be fellow students at Hogwarts, Harry walked quietly down the stairs, past the heads of Kreacher's ancestors, and down into the kitchen.**

**He had expected it to be empty, but when he reached the door he heard the soft rumble of voices on the other side. He pushed it open and saw Mr and Mrs Weasley, Sirius, Lupin and Tonks sitting there almost as though they were waiting for him. **

"That's probably because we were silly," laughed Sirius as he ruffed Harry's hair, laughing again as Harry tried to flatten it.

**All were fully dressed except Mrs Weasley, who was wearing a quilted purple dressing gown. She leapt to her feet the moment Harry entered.**

**'Breakfast,' she said as she pulled out her wand and hurried over to the fire.**

**'M - m - morning, Harry,' yawned Tonks. Her hair was blonde and curly this morning.**

Tonks scrunched up her nose and changed her hair to match the description; she turned to Remus and asked, "What do you think?"

"I like it better pink, but it suits you," Remus told her. She smiled and turned the colour of her hair back to its bright pink but kept the new length and curls.

**'Yeah,' said Harry.**

**'I've b - b - been up all night,' she said, with another shuddering yawn. 'Come and sit down . . .'**

**She drew out a chair, knocking over the one beside it in the process.**

Tonks groaned, she was even clumsier when she was tired, trust her to make a fool out of herself when Remus was there.

**'What do you want, Harry?' Mrs Weasley called. 'Porridge? Muffins? Kippers? Bacon and eggs? Toast?'**

**'Just - just toast, thanks,' said Harry.**

**Lupin glanced at Harry, then said to Tonks, 'What were you saying about Scrimgeour?'**

"Who's Scrimgeour?" asked Fred

"He's the Head Auror, so mine and Kingsley's boss," Tonks told him indicating Kingsley with her head as she said his name.

**'Oh . . . yeah . . . well, we need to be a bit more careful, he's been asking Kingsley and me funny questions . . .'**

"You'll just have to more careful around him then," growled Moody. Scrimgeour wasn't a too bad of a person, but he could really mess up there operation by asking too many questions and that was something that they didn't want.

**Harry felt vaguely grateful that he was not required to join in the conversation. His insides were squirming. Mrs Weasley placed a couple of pieces of toast and marmalade in front of him; he tried to eat, but it was like chewing carpet. **

"Oh, have you tried it before?" asked George as he smiled teasingly at Harry.

**Mrs Weasley sat down on his other side and started fussing with his T-shirt, tucking in the label and smoothing out the creases across his shoulders. He wished she wouldn't.**

**'. . . and I'll have to tell Dumbledore I can't do night duty tomorrow, I'm just t - t - too tired,' Tonks finished, yawning hugely again.**

**'I'll cover for you,' said Mr Weasley. 'I'm OK, I've got a report to finish anyway'**

**Mr Weasley was not wearing wizards' robes but a pair of pinstriped trousers and an old bomber jacket. **

"Is that not right?" asked Arthur when Hermione giggled.

"Not really, you would wear a bomber jacket with a pair of jeans, because it's more casual, whereas the pinstriped trousers you would wear a matching jacket and a tie," she told him smiling apologetically for laughing. Arthur smiled back at her, it amazed him how many different sets of clothing that Muggles had. He had once walked into a Muggle clothing store and had been utterly bamboozled by all the different styles and colours.

**He turned from Tonks to Harry.**

**'How are you feeling?'**

**Harry shrugged.**

**'It'll all be over soon,' Mr Weasley said bracingly. 'In a few hours' time you'll be cleared.'**

**Harry said nothing.**

**The hearings on my floor, in Amelia Bones's office. **

"Good, she'll at least give you a fair trial," said Remus.

"Do you know her?" asked Harry looking at the two Marauders behind him.

"Not really, but her brother, Edgar was in the original Order," said Sirius.

"That, and Sirius snogged her in a broom closet once," added Remus cheekily. It felt good to get back at Sirius for all the cracks he had been making about him and Tonks. It was especially satisfying to see Sirius getting elbowed in the stomach by Emmeline.

**She's Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and the one who'll be questioning you.'**

**'Amelia Bones is OK, Harry,' said Tonks earnestly. 'She's fair, she'll hear you out.'**

**Harry nodded, still unable to think of anything to say.**

**'Don't lose your temper,' said Sirius abruptly. 'Be polite and stick to the facts.'**

Molly smiled, yes; Sirius was going to be a great godfather for Harry. She knew that he was still working though his own problems at the moment but that had obviously not stopped him from not losing focus on being there for Harry, and for that she was immensely proud of him.

**Harry nodded again.**

**The law's on your side,' said Lupin quietly. 'Even underage wizards are allowed to use magic in life-threatening situations.'**

"But don't they have to believe that it was a life threatening situation in the first place?" asked Harry.

"If you are honest and say everything exactly how it happened you'll be fine," Tonks told him.

**Something very cold trickled down the back of Harry's neck; for a moment he thought someone was putting a Disillusionment Charm on him, then he realised that Mrs Weasley was attacking his hair with a wet comb. She pressed hard on the top of his head.**

**'Doesn't it ever lie flat?' she said desperately.**

"Nah, James told us once that there hasn't been a Potter male with flat hair in like four or five generations," Sirius said dismissively.

"Really?" asked Ginny intrigued. She loved Harry's hair; it seemed to give him a charming unkempt sort of look.

"Yeah they all married red heads too," he said smiling mischievously at her as she, and Harry who was listening, blushed. Remus elbowed Sirius in the stomach, coming to her rescue.

"Ignore him, he's just teasing you," Remus told her before whispering something quickly in Sirius's ear. Sirius frowned but didn't say anything else, and when Remus wasn't looking he winked at Ginny making her blush again.

**Harry shook his head.**

**Mr Weasley checked his watch and looked up at Harry. I think we'll go now,' he said. 'We're a bit early, but I think you'll be better off at the Ministry than hanging around here.'**

**'OK,' said Harry automatically, dropping his toast and getting to his feet.**

"You should finish your breakfast Harry, at the very least take it with you," chided Molly.

**'You'll be all right, Harry,' said Tonks, patting him on the arm.**

**'Good luck,' said Lupin. 'I'm sure it will be fine.'**

**'And if it's not,' said Sirius grimly, 'I'll see to Amelia Bones for you . . .'**

"Shut up Moony," growled Sirius as Remus wagged his eyebrows and laughed as Emmeline frowned at Sirius.

"Do you think there is something going on between them?" whispered Hermione to Ginny, Harry and Ron.

"Who Sirius and Remus?" asked Ron clearly missing what was happening behind him. Ginny rolled her eyes,

"No you prat, Sirius and Emmeline," Ginny hissed smacking him on the arm.

"They were staring at each other funnily last night, so maybe?" suggested Harry.

"I think there is, it looks like there is something between Pro-Remus and Tonks as well," murmured Ginny. Ron looked as though he too was going to add something but was cut off by Sirius.

"What are you four whispering about?" he asked suspiciously, raising his eyebrow at them.

"Nothing," they chorused smiling widely before turned around and Ron started to read again in order to avoid more questions.

**Harry smiled weakly. Mrs Weasley hugged him.**

**'We've all got our fingers crossed,' she said.**

"You know for being all reassuring before, telling me you have your fingers crossed doesn't really inspire confidence," said Harry dryly as Molly flushed lightly.

**'Right,' said Harry. 'Well . . . see you later then.'**

**He followed Mr Weasley upstairs and along the hall. He could hear Sirius's mother grunting in her sleep behind her curtains. Mr Weasley unbolted the door and they stepped out into the cold, grey dawn.**

**'You don't normally walk to work, do you?' Harry asked him, as they set off briskly around the square.**

"No, even from here it takes too long, particularly when I can be there in a matter of minutes," Arthur told him. "It's fine, besides, I don't think it would be a good idea for you to arrive magically anyway," he added when Harry frowned, obviously not wanting to be a bother.

**'No, I usually Apparate,' said Mr Weasley, 'but obviously you can't, and I think it's best we arrive in a thoroughly non-magical fashion . . . makes a better impression, given what you're being disciplined for . . .'**

Arthur smiled at saying almost the same thing that he was going to in the future.

**Mr Weasley kept his hand inside his jacket as they walked. Harry knew it was clenched around his wand. **

"Good, keep an eye on the people around you," praised Moody.

**The run-down streets were almost deserted, but when they arrived at the miserable little underground station they found it already lull of early-morning commuters. As ever when he found himself in close proximity to Muggles going about their daily business, Mr Weasley was hard put to contain his enthusiasm.**

Molly rolled her eyes at her husband as his ears turned red at the laughter around the room.

"You shouldn't be so obvious Arthur, with the number of witches and wizards that can't blend in with Muggles these days, it's a miracle we haven't been found out," grumbled Moody as Arthur's face slowly turned the same colour as his ears.

**'Simply fabulous,' he whispered, indicating the automatic ticket machines. 'Wonderfully ingenious.'**

**They're out of order,' said Harry, pointing at the sign.**

Ron snorted, causing Harry to laugh again, he didn't mean to laugh. It was just funny to think of Mr Weasley showing such enthusiasm for something that didn't work.

**'Yes, but even so . . .' said Mr Weasley, beaming at them fondly.**

**They bought their tickets instead from a sleepy-looking guard (Harry handled the transaction, as Mr Weasley was not very good with Muggle money) and five minutes later they were boarding an underground train that rattled them off towards the centre of London. Mr Weasley kept anxiously checking and re-checking the Underground Map above the windows.**

**'Four more stops, Harry . . . Three stops led now . . . Two stops to go, Harry . . .'**

"That'll just be making me even more nervous," said Harry.

"Sorry, I haven't been on the train before, so I probably want to make sure it goes smoothly and we get where we need to go," Arthur told him and Harry smiled.

**They got off at a station in the very heart of London, and were swept from the train in a tide of besuited men and women carrying briefcases. Up the escalator they went, through the ticket barrier (Mr Weasley delighted with the way the stile swallowed his ticket), and emerged on to a broad street lined with imposing-looking buildings and already full of traffic.**

**'Where are we?' said Mr Weasley blankly, and for one heart-stopping moment Harry thought they had got off at the wrong station despite Mr Weasley's continual references to the map; but a second later he said, 'Ah yes . . . this way, Harry,' and led him down a side road.**

**'Sorry,' he said, 'but I never come by train and it all looks rather different from a Muggle perspective. As a matter of fact, I've never even used the visitors' entrance before.'**

"I guess there is a first time for everything right?" said Arthur cocking his head to the side as he addressed the room.

"I only wish it was under better circumstances," replied Sirius.

**The further they walked, the smaller and less imposing the buildings became, until finally they reached a street that contained several rather shabby-looking offices, a pub and an overflowing skip. Harry had expected a rather more impressive location for the Ministry of Magic.**

"It looks much better on the inside, we just have to be inconspicuous so the Muggles don't accidently try to go in there," explained Tonks brightly.

**'Here we are,' said Mr Weasley brightly, pointing at an old red telephone box, which was missing several panes of glass and stood before a heavily graffitied wall. 'After you, Harry.'**

**He opened the telephone-box door.**

**Harry stepped inside, wondering what on earth this was about. Mr Weasley folded himself in beside Harry and closed the door. It was a tight fit; Harry was jammed against the telephone apparatus, which was hanging crookedly from the wall as though a vandal had tried to rip it off. Mr Weasley reached past Harry for the receiver.**

**'Mr Weasley, I think this might be out of order, too,' Harry said.**

**'No, no, I'm sure it's fine,' said Mr Weasley, holding the receiver above his head and peering at the dial. 'Let's see . . . six . . .' he dialled the number, 'two . . . four . . . and another four . . . and another two . . .'**

"That spells 'magic'," stated Hermione rather suddenly.

"What d'you mean?" asked Bill, not quite sure what she was talking about.

"Muggle telephones have letters on them as well as numbers, with three letter or four letters for each number, except one. So if you match the numbers to their matching letters it spells magic," Hermione explained but when Bill looked even more confused and Hermione got ready to explain again Ron interrupted,

"Just have a look at dad's telephone later, it will make sense then," he told Bill. He had had the same problem when Hermione had tried to explain telephones to him, it had gotten very complicated and he didn't understand the whole letter/number thing until he had seen the phone his dad had in his shed.

**As the dial whirred smoothly back into place, a cool female voice sounded inside the telephone box, not from the receiver in Mr Weasley's hand, but as loudly and plainly as though an invisible woman were standing right beside them.**

**'Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business.'**

**'Er . . .' said Mr Weasley, clearly uncertain whether or not he should talk into the receiver. He compromised by holding the mouthpiece to his ear, **

"The receiver works either way because as Arthur just kindly demonstrated, many wizards still find Muggle things confusing, no matter how much of an interest they have in them," explained Dumbledore as Harry and Hermione nodded, the latter looking extremely interested in the topic.

**'Arthur Weasley, Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, here to escort Harry Potter, who has been asked to attend a disciplinary hearing . . .'**

**'Thank you,' said the cool female voice. 'Visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes.'**

**There was a click and a rattle, and Harry saw something slide out of the metal chute where returned coins usually appeared. He picked it up: it was a square silver badge with Harry Potter, Disciplinary Hearing on it.**

"Direct and to the point, I like it," said the Twins at the same time, causing the room to laugh and some of the rising tension to melt.

**He pinned it to the front of his T-shirt as the female voice spoke again.**

**'Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium '**

**The floor of the telephone box shuddered. They were sinking slowly into the ground. Harry watched apprehensively as the pavement seemed to rise up past the glass windows of the telephone box until darkness closed over their heads. Then he could see nothing at all; he could hear only a dull grinding noise as the telephone box made its way down through the earth. After about a minute, though it felt much longer to Harry, a chink of golden light illuminated his feet and, widening, rose up his body, until it hit him in the face and he had to blink to stop his eyes watering.**

"That sounds fascinating," muttered Hermione to herself, missing Ron as he rolled his eyes as he read.

**'The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day,' said the woman's voice.**

**The door of the telephone box sprang open and Mr Weasley stepped out of it, followed by Harry, whose mouth had fallen open.**

**They were standing at one end of a very long and splendid hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor. The peacock blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that kept moving and changing like some enormous heavenly noticeboard. The wall's on each side were panelled in shiny dark wood and had many gilded fireplaces set into them. Every few seconds a witch or wizard would emerge from one of the left-hand fireplaces with a soft whoosh. On the right-hand side, short queues were forming before each fireplace, waiting to depart.**

"That sounds amazing," whispered Hermione as Harry nodded in agreement.

**Halfway down the hall was a fountain. A group of golden statues, larger than life-size, stood in the middle of a circular pool. Tallest of them all was a noble-looking wizard with his wand pointing straight up in the air. Grouped around him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house-elf. The last three were all locking adoringly up at the witch and wizard.**

"That's not very accurate," tutted Hermione frowning at the book.

"No, but it wouldn't be very good for business if the centaur and the goblin were trying to rip the wizards head off, would it," said Sirius rolling his eyes at the description.

**Glittering jets of water were flying from the ends of their wands, the point of the centaurs a tow, the tip of the goblin's hat and each of the house-elf's ears, so that the tinkling hiss of falling water was added to the pops and cracks of the Apparators and the clatter of footsteps as hundreds of witches and wizards, most of whom were wearing glum, early-morning looks, strode towards a set of golden gates at the far end of the hall**

"It may not be accurate but it sounds beautiful," murmured Ginny to Hermione. Ginny had seen the statue before, but the way Harry described it made it sound so much more stunning that it actually was, granted it was still pretty amazing to look at in the first place.

**'This way,' said Mr Weasley.**

**They joined the throng, wending their way between the Ministry workers, some of whom were carrying tottering piles of parchment, others battered briefcases; still others were reading the Daily Prophet while they walked. As they passed the fountain Harry saw silver Sickles and bronze Knuts glinting up at him from the bottom of the pool. A small smudged sign beside it read:**

**ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF MAGICAL BRETHREN WILL BE GIVEN TO ST MUNGO'S HOSPITAL FOR MAGICAL MALADIES AND INJURIES.**

**If I'm not expelled from Hogwarts, I'll put in ten Galleons, Harry found himself thinking desperately.**

"That's very kind of you Harry," said Emmeline, thinking of Alice and Frank, both of whom she had been very close to during the first war and throughout Hogwarts.

**'Over here, Harry,' said Mr Weasley, and they stepped out of the stream of Ministry employees heading for the golden gates. Seated at a desk to the left, beneath a sign saying Security, a badly-shaven wizard in peacock blue robes looked up as they approached and put down his Daily Prophet.**

**'I'm escorting a visitor,' said Mr Weasley, gesturing towards Harry.**

**'Step over here,' said the wizard in a bored voice.**

Harry smiled; happy that the guy was bored enough not to notice that it was _'The-Boy-Who-Lived'_ standing in front of him.

**Harry walked closer to him and the wizard held up a long golden rod, thin and flexible as a car aerial, and passed it up and down Harry's front and back.**

"It's a Probity Probe, like a Muggle metal detector," said Hermione rolling her eye when Harry looked questioningly at her, making him grin.

**'Wand,' grunted the security wizard at Harry, putting down the golden instrument and holding out his hand.**

**Harry produced his wand. The wizard dropped it on to a strange brass instrument, which looked something like a set of scales with only one dish. **

"What does that do?" asked Harry but Hermione shrugged her shoulders, she hadn't read anything about those yet.

"It makes a record of all the visitors' wands, so they can keep track of who has been there that day," said Tonks to the teenagers sitting in front of her.

**It began to vibrate. A narrow strip of parchment came speeding out of a slit in the base. The wizard tore this off and read the writing on it.**

**'Eleven inches, phoenix-feather core, been in use four years. That correct?'**

**'Yes,' said Harry nervously.**

**'I keep this,' said the wizard, impaling the slip of parchment on a small brass spike. 'You get this back,' he added, thrusting the wand at Harry.**

**Thank you.'**

**'Hang on . . .' said the wizard slowly.**

**His eyes had darted from the silver visitor's badge on Harry's chest to his forehead.**

Harry sighed, at least he hadn't noticed till he was leaving.

**Thank you, Eric,' said Mr Weasley firmly, and grasping Harry by the shoulder he steered him away from the desk and back into the stream of wizards and witches walking through the golden gates.**

"Thanks Mr Weasley," said Harry.

"It's not a problem," said Arthur kindly.

**Jostled slightly by the crowd, Harry followed Mr Weasley through the gates into the smaller hall beyond, where at least twenty lifts stood behind wrought golden grilles. Harry and Mr Weasley joined the crowd around one of them. Nearby, stood a big bearded wizard holding a large cardboard box which was emitting rasping noises.**

**'All right, Arthur?' said the wizard, nodding at Mr Weasley.**

**What've you got there, Bob?' asked Mr Weasley, looking at the box.**

**'We're not sure,' said the wizard seriously. 'We thought it was a bog-standard chicken until it started breathing fire. Looks like a serious breach of the Ban on Experimental Breeding to me.'**

"That sounds like something Hagrid would come up with," said George laughing good naturedly.

"Nah, that sounds too tame to be one of Hagrid's, remember those Blast-Ended Skrewts," said Fred.

Ron, Harry and Hermione shuddered at the memory; those Care of Magical Creatures lessons were not fun.

**With a great jangling and clattering a lift descended in front of them; the golden grille slid back and Harry and Mr Weasley stepped into the lift with the rest of the crowd and Harry found himself jammed against the back wall. Several witches and wizards were looking at him curiously; he stared at his feet to avoid catching anyone's eye, flattening his fringe as he did so.**

"You know that won't work with your badge remember?" said Sirius teasingly, before laughing at the mortified look on Harry's face. Snape frowned, it was beginning to hit him that perhaps Potter really didn't like being famous, maybe he was more like…_no, don't think like that _he thought furiously to himself. Snape couldn't afford to start getting attached to Potter now, it would only make his job harder, he needed to keep seeing him as his father, if only to keep the Dark Lord unaware of his connection to Lily and position as a spy.

**The grilles slid shut with a crash and the lift ascended slowly, chains rattling, while the same cool female voice Harry had heard in the telephone box rang out again.**

**'Level Seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club and Ludicrous Patents Office.'corridor, with various posters of Quidditch teams tacked lopsidedly on the walls. One of the wizards in the lift, who was carrying an armful of broomsticks, extricated himself with difficulty and disappeared down the corridor. The doors closed, the lift juddered upwards again and the woman's voice announced:**

**'Level Six, Department of Magical Transportation, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office and Apparation Test Centre.'**

**Once again the lift doors opened and four or five witches and wizards got out; at the same time, several paper aeroplanes swooped into the lift.**

"It'll explain in a minute Harry," said Ron, his eyes hadn't left the page but he had still managed to see Harry's inquisitive look to Hermione. The Order was amazed to see how well the three teenagers knew each other, who apparently didn't need to see one another to tell what they were thinking.

**Harry stared up at them as they flapped idly around above his head; they were a pale violet colour and he could see Ministry of Magic stamped along the edge of their wings.**

**'Just inter-departmental memos,' Mr Weasley muttered to him. 'We used to use owls, but the mess was unbelievable . . . droppings all over the desks...'**

"Oh, thanks Ron," smiled Harry as Ron rolled his eyes at him, smiled and then kept reading.

**As they clattered upwards again the memos flapped around the lamp swaying from the lift's ceiling.**

**'Level Five, Department of International Magical Co-operation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law and the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats.'**

**When the doors opened, two of the memos zoomed out with a few more of the witches and wizards, but several more memos zoomed in, so that the light from the lamp flickered and flashed overhead as they darted around it.**

**'Level Four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office and Pest Advisory Bureau.**

Hermione smiled, that was where she was going to work when she left Hogwarts. It felt strange to know what she would end up doing, but it gave her something to work towards as well which was would be helpful as it gave her a goal for her OWLs as well.

**' 'S'cuse,' said the wizard carrying the fire-breathing chicken and he left the lift pursued by a little flock of memos. The doors clanged shut yet again.**

**'Level Three, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviator Headquarters and Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee.'**

"They have people that sit in an office all day just to think up excuses?" asked George, if he and Fred weren't already on track with their joke shop, that sounded like an alright job.

**Everybody left the lift on this floor except Mr Weasley, Harry and a witch who was reading an extremely long piece of parchment that was trailing on the floor. The remaining memos continued to soar around the lamp as the lift juddered upwards again, then the doors opened and the voice made its announcement.**

**'Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services.'**

**'This is us, Harry,' said Mr Weasley, and they followed the witch out of the lift into a corridor lined with doors. 'My office is on the other side of the floor.'**

**'Mr Weasley,' said Harry, as they passed a window through which sunlight was streaming, 'aren't we still underground?'**

"People like the feeling of it being sunny outside, even if it isn't really," said Arthur as the other Ministry workers nodded.

**'Yes, we are,' said Mr Weasley. Those are enchanted windows. Magical Maintenance decide what weather we'll get every day. We had two months of hurricanes last time they were angling for a pay rise . . . Just round here, Harry.'**

**They turned a corner, walked through a pair of heavy oak doors and emerged in a cluttered open area divided into cubicles, which was buzzing with talk and laughter. Memos were zooming in and out of cubicles like miniature rockets. A lopsided sign on the nearest cubicle read: Auror Headquarters.**

Tonks cheered for her workplace while Kingsley laughed at her antics and Moody smiled gruffly.

**Harry looked surreptitiously through the doorways as they passed. The Aurors had covered their cubicle walls with everything from pictures of wanted wizards and photographs of their families, to posters of their favourite Quidditch teams and articles from the Daily Prophet. A scarlet-robed man with a ponytail longer than Bill's was sitting with his boots up on his desk, dictating a report to his quill. A little further along, a witch with a patch over one eye was talking over the top of her cubicle wall to Kingsley Shacklebolt.**

"Yay Kingsley," laughed Tonks and Sirius, sounding so alike they could have been brother and sister.

**'Morning, Weasley,' said Kingsley carelessly, as they drew nearer. I've been wanting a word with you, have you got a second?'**

**'Yes, if it really is a second,' said Mr Weasley, 'I'm in rather a hurry.'**

**They were talking as though they hardly knew each other and when Harry opened his mouth to say hello to Kingsley, Mr Weasley stood on his foot.**

**They followed Kingsley along the row and into the very last cubicle.**

"We didn't really know each other before we joined the Order so it would be a bit odd if we started to get chummy at work all of a sudden," Kingsley told Harry who nodded.

**Harry received a slight shock; blinking down at him from every direction was Sirius's face. **

"Yes well his face isn't exactly pleasant, I'm not surprise that it shocked you Potter," Snape sneered. Sirius growled lowly and looked as though he wanted to hit Snape in the face, but he was held back by Remus and a glaring Harry.

"That is enough Severus," said Dumbledore sternly sending Snape a silent message to behave himself. Sirius on the other hand was glaring at Snape but could stop his hand from touching his once youthful face. It was just another thing that Azkaban had stolen from him that he would never quite get back. Emmeline sensing his discomfort, once again leaned her head on Sirius's shoulder and gave his hand a squeeze, instantly soothing him.

**Newspaper cuttings and old photographs - even the one of Sirius being best man at the Potters' wedding - 'papered the walls. The only Sirius-free space was a map of the world in which little red pins were glowing like jewels.**

**'Here,' said Kingsley brusquely to Mr Weasley, shoving a sheaf of parchment into his hand. 'I need as much information as possible on flying Muggle vehicles sighted in the last twelve months. We've received information that Black might still be using his old motorcycle.'**

**Kingsley tipped Harry an enormous wink and added, in a whisper, 'Give him the magazine, he might find it interesting.' **

"Why would I think it was interesting?" asked Sirius who was now resting his head on Emmeline's. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny grinned at each other but Sirius remained oblivious to their amusement.

"I'm sure it will come up later," said Dumbledore. He wasn't sure, but he had heard that Xenophilius Lovegood had a story about Sirius in the works, maybe that was it.

**Then he said in normal tones, 'And don't take too long, Weasley, the delay on that firelegs report held our investigation up for a month.'**

**'If you had read my report you would know that the term is firearms,' said Mr Weasley coolly. 'And I'm afraid you'll have to wait for information on motorcycles; we're extremely busy at the moment.' He dropped his voice and said, 'If you can get away before seven, Molly's making meatballs.'**

"Can we have meatballs?" asked Ron interrupting himself. Molly rolled her eyes but nodded,

"Alright, we'll have them for lunch," she said.

**He beckoned to Harry and led him out of Kingsley's cubicle, through a second set of oak doors, into another passage, turned left, marched along another corridor, turned right into a dimly lit and distinctly shabby corridor, and finally reached a dead end, where a door on the left stood ajar, revealing a broom cupboard, and a door on the right bore a tarnished brass plaque reading: Misuse of Muggle Artefacts.**

"Your office is a broom cupboard?" asked Hermione.

Arthur sighed and nodded.

**Mr Weasley's dingy office seemed to be slightly smaller than the broom cupboard. Two desks had been crammed inside it and there was barely space to move around them because of all the overflowing filing cabinets lining the walls, on top of which were tottering piles of files. The little wall space available bore witness to Mr Weasley's obsessions: several posters of cars, including one of a dismantled engine; two illustrations of postboxes he seemed to have cut out of Muggle children's books; and a diagram showing how to wire a plug.**

"That sounds…" trailed off Fred trying and failing to sound enthusiastic.

"Crowded…" finished George.

**Sitting on top of Mr Weasley's overflowing in-tray was an old toaster that was hiccoughing in a disconsolate way and a pair of empty leather gloves that were twiddling their thumbs. A photograph of the Weasley family stood beside the in-tray. Harry noticed that Percy appeared to have walked out of it.**

Molly's eyes watered and Arthur flinched, but they didn't say anything. Ron gripped the book tighter at the mention of his brother but didn't pause in his reading.

**'We haven't got a window,' said Mr Weasley apologetically, taking off his bomber jacket and placing it on the back of his chair. 'We've asked, but they don't seem to think we need one. **

"I doubt it would fit on the wall," said Sirius absently, still distracted by Emmeline.

Arthur smiled slightly at him and laughed,

"Yes I suppose you're right."

**Have a seat, Harry, doesn't look as if Perkins is in yet.'**

**Harry squeezed himself into the chair behind Perkins's desk while Mr Weasley riffled through the sheaf of parchment Kingsley Shacklebolt had given him.**

**'Ah,' he said, grinning, as he extracted a copy of a magazine entitled The Quibbler from its midst, 'yes . . .' He flicked through it. 'Yes, he's right, I'm sure Sirius will find that very amusing - oh dear, what's this now?'**

This had caught Sirius's attention, so it was something he would have found funny, it couldn't be any of the classier magazines like Witch Weekly, so it had to be something smaller, like the Quibbler, yeah, he'd find the Quibbler funny, now he just had to work out what it was about.

**A memo had just zoomed in through the open door and fluttered to rest on top of the hiccoughing toaster. Mr Weasley unfolded it and read it aloud.**

**"Third regurgitating public toilet reported in Bethnal Green, kindly investigate immediately." This is getting ridiculous . . .'**

**'A regurgitating toilet?'**

**'Anti-Muggle pranksters,' said Mr Weasley, frowning. 'We had two last week, one in Wimbledon, one in Elephant and Castle. Muggles are pulling the flush and instead of everything disappearing - well, you can imagine. The poor things keep calling in those - pumbles, I think they're called - you know, the ones who mend pipes and things.'**

**'Plumbers?'**

**'Exactly, yes, but of course they're flummoxed, if only hope we can catch whoever's doing it.'**

**'Will it be Aurors who catch them?'**

"We don't cover that kind of stuff," said Tonks.

**'Oh no, this is too trivial for Aurors, it'll be the ordinary Magical Law Enforcement Patrol - ah, Harry, this is Perkins.'**

**A stooped, timid-looking old wizard with fluffy white hair had just entered the room, panting.**

**'Oh, Arthur!' he said desperately, without looking at Harry. Thank goodness, I didn't know what to do for the best, whether to wait here for you or not. I've just sent an owl to your home but you've obviously missed it - an urgent message came ten minutes ago - '**

**'I know about the regurgitating toilet,' said Mr Weasley.**

**'No, no, it's not the toilet, it's the Potter boy's hearing - they've changed the time and venue - it starts at eight o'clock now and it's down in old Courtroom Ten - '**

"WHAT!"

"Courtroom Ten!"

"How could they do that?" Were just some of the shouts echoing around the room. Dumbledore frowned, he had hoped that Cornelius wouldn't sink so low as to put Harry on trial in that room but unfortunately he had been too kind in his assessment of what Fudge would and wouldn't do to make Harry seem unstable.

**'Down in old - but they told me - Merlin's beard!'**

**Mr Weasley looked at his watch, let out a yelp and leapt from his chair.**

**'Quick, Harry, we should have been there five minutes ago!'**

"Bloody Fudge," Sirius growled, sparing a glance at Molly who was to distracted to even notice his swearing.

**Perkins flattened himself against the filing cabinets as Mr Weasley left the office at a run, Harry close on his heels.**

**'Why have they changed the time?' Harry said breathlessly, as they hurtled past the Auror cubicles; people poked out their heads and stared as they streaked past. Harry felt as though he'd felt all his insides back at Perkins's desk.**

**'I've no idea, but thank goodness we got here so early, if you'd missed it, it would have been catastrophic!'**

"That's why he changed it," said Remus trying to stay calm as his eyes flashed golden.

"Calm down Remus," Tonks whispered in his ear, her warm breath shaking him out of his reverie, calming him almost instantly. He nodded closing his eyes as they faded back to his natural brown.

**Mr Weasley skidded to a halt beside the lifts and jabbed impatiently at the 'down' button.**

**'Come ON!'**

**The lift clattered into view and they hurried inside. Every time it stopped Mr Weasley cursed furiously and pummelled the number nine button.**

**'Those courtrooms haven't been used in years,' said Mr Weasley angrily. 'I can't think why they're doing it down there - unless - but no - '**

Sirius growled, he knew exactly what Fudge was doing down there, and as soon as Sirius was free, he was going to be have words with Fudge, very painful words.

**A plump witch carrying a smoking goblet entered the lift at that moment, and Mr Weasley did not elaborate.**

**'The Atrium,' said the cool female voice and the golden grilles slid open, showing Harry a distant glimpse of the golden statues in the fountain. The plump witch got out and a sallow-skinned wizard with a very mournful face got in.**

**'Morning, Arthur,' he said in a sepulchral voice as the lift began to descend. 'Don't often see you down here.'**

**'Urgent business, Bode,' said Mr Weasley, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet and throwing anxious looks over at Harry.**

**'Ah, yes,' said Bode, surveying Harry unblinkingly. 'Of course.'**

"Does anybody else find that a little bit odd?" asked Ron hesitantly.

"Aye, sounds like he's been impurised," nodded Moody, agreeing with Ron assessment.

**Harry barely had emotion to spare for Bode, but his unfaltering gaze did not make him feel any more comfortable.**

"Yes, we'll have to keep an eye on him," Moody added.

**'Department of Mysteries,' said the cool female voice, and left it at that.**

**'Quick, Harry,' said Mr Weasley as the lift doors rattled open, and they sped up a corridor that was quite different from those above. The walls were bare; there were no windows and no doors apart from a plain black one set at the very end of the corridor. **

Something buzzed in Harry's memory, the description sounded very familiar, but he could think of from where.

**Harry expected them to go through it, but instead Mr Weasley seized him by the arm and dragged him to the left, where there was an opening leading to a flight of steps.**

**'Down here, down here,' panted Mr Weasley, taking two steps at a time. The lift doesn't even come down this far . . . why they're doing it down there I , . .'**

"Because Fudge is a nut job," growled Sirius, his body tense and his fists clenched, he was so mad that all thoughts of Emmeline had been driven from his mind leaving him with nothing but his thoughts of how much he wanted to kill Fudge at the moment. Harry, sensing his godfather's distress pressed his body into Sirius's legs, trying to calm him down. Sirius felt the pressure on his legs and looked down to see Harry staring at him worriedly over his shoulder. Sirius smiled and patted Harry on the head, a message telling him he was okay. Harry smiled before turning back to Ron who was on the last few pages of the chapter.

**They reached the bottom of the steps and ran along yet another corridor, which bore a great resemblance to the one that led to Snape's dungeon at Hogwarts, with rough stone walls and torches in brackets. The doors they passed here were heavy wooden ones with iron bolts and keyholes.**

**'Courtroom . . . Ten . . . I think . . . we're nearly . . . yes.'**

**Mr Weasley stumbled to a halt outside a grimy dark door with an immense iron lock and slumped against the wall, clutching at a stitch in his chest.**

**'Go on,' he panted, pointing his thumb at the door. 'Get in there.'**

**'Aren't - aren't you coming with - ?'**

**'No, no, I'm not allowed. Good luck!'**

"Thanks, I'll need it," Harry said quietly.

"You'll be fine," whispered Ginny, her hair brushing his neck leaving him with goosebumps.

**Harry's heart was beating a violent tattoo against his Adams apple. He swallowed hard, turned the heavy iron door handle and stepped inside the courtroom.**

"Well, what happens next?" asked Molly urgently when Ron stopped reading. Ron shrugged,

"I don't know, that's the end of the chapter," said Ron solemnly as he passed the book to Ginny.

She cleared her throat quickly and read, "**The Hearing**."

* * *

**Okay I just want to say before anyone goes biting my head off, the comment I made about Potter's marrying redheads was a JOKE okay, I firmly believe that Dorea Potter had dark hair (because she was a black, and Narcissa is the only one that I know of that has blonde hair). Most of you probably won't care about it but last time i posted this chapter i got a message from someone saying that as soon as they read that bit they stopped reading my story...bit upsetting i know so i repeat it's a joke and it gets resolved later.**


	12. The Hearing

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise or is in bold is the work of JKRowling. Thanks for all of the reviews guys, this chapters a bit shorter, mainly because nothing overly exciting happens, but still please review :)**

* * *

"**The Hearing**," Ginny read in a loud voice.

Harry took a deep breath, his own trial was still a week away, but it was still nerve racking to be reading about it.

**Harry gasped; he could not help himself. The large dungeon he had entered was horribly familiar. He had not only seen it before, he had been here before. This was the place he had visited inside Dumbledore's Pensieve, the place where he had watched the Lestranges sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban.**

"My hearing is in there?" asked Harry incredulously.

"It shouldn't be," growled Sirius. "Courtroom ten was used to sentence Death Eaters in the first war."

"Yeah, it should be in Madame Bones's office," added Tonks who was frowning deeply.

**The walls were made of dark stone, dimly lit by torches. Empty benches rose on either side of him, but ahead, in the highest benches of all, were many shadowy figures. **

Remus frowned; surely they weren't putting him on a full trial, it was bad enough that Harry was in courtroom ten; he didn't need the added worry of the entire Wizengamont.

**They had been talking in low voices, but as the heavy door swung closed behind Harry an ominous silence fell.**

**A cold male voice rang across the courtroom.**

**'You're late.'**

**'Sorry,' said Harry nervously. 'I - I didn't know the time had been changed.'**

**'That is not the Wizengamot's fault,' said the voice. 'An owl was sent to you this morning. Take your seat.'**

**Harry dropped his gaze to the chair in the centre of the room, the arms of which were covered in chains. He had seen those chains spring to life and bind whoever sat between them. **

"You'll be fine Potter, they're not going to use those on a fifteen year old up for using magic in front of a muggle," said Moody gruffly.

**His footsteps echoed loudly as he walked across the stone floor. When he sat gingerly on the edge of the chair the chains clinked threateningly, but did not bind him. Feeling rather sick, he looked up at the people seated at the bench above.**

**There were about fifty of them, **

Sirius swore, he was going to kill Fudge, how dare he put his godson on trial before the entire Wizengamont.

**all, as far as he could see, wearing plum-coloured robes with an elaborately worked silver 'W' on the left-hand side of the chest and all staring down their noses at him, some with very austere expressions, others looks of frank curiosity.**

**In the very middle of the front row sat Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic. Fudge was a portly man who often sported a lime-green bowler hat, though today he had dispensed with it; he had dispensed, too, with the indulgent smile he had once worn when he spoke to Harry. A broad, square-jawed witch with very short grey hair sat on Fudges left; she wore a monocle and looked forbidding. **

"That's Amelia," said Remus. She had been much prettier in her youth; she'd had long reddish brown hair and was much kinder looking, but that was what war did to people.

**On Fudges right was another witch, but she was sitting so far back on the bench that her face was in shadow.**

**'Very well,' said Fudge. 'The accused being present - finally - let us begin. Are you ready?' he called down the row.**

**'Yes, sir,' said an eager voice Harry knew. Ron's brother Percy was sitting at the very end of the front bench. Harry looked at Percy, expecting some sign of recognition from him, but none came.**

The Twins, Ron and Ginny glared at the mention of their brother while Arthur squeezed Molly's hand.

"In his defence he wouldn't be able to help Harry anyway because he is there as a professional, not a family friend," said a frowning Bill quietly.

"That doesn't mean that he can't smile at him or something," snapped Ron.

**Percy's eyes, behind his horn-rimmed glasses, were fixed on his parchment, a quill poised in his hand.**

**'Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August,' said Fudge in a ringing voice, and Percy began taking notes at once, 'into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry-James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.**

**'Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, **

Remus growled softly at the mention of the woman who had made his life harder just because she didn't like 'half-breeds'. Tonks rested her hand on Remus's shoulder when she heard him growl, but didn't say anything should he get uncomfortable and pull away. Instead she fixed her eyes on the book in Ginny's hands at the other end of the lounge, missing the small smile that had graced Remus's face at her touch.

**Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley - '**

**'Witness for the defence, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore,' said a quiet voice from behind Harry, who turned his head so fast he cricked his neck.**

There was a huge sigh of relief as the people in the room released the breath they didn't know they had been holding. If Dumbledore was there than Harry would be fine, Fudge wouldn't know what to do.

**Dumbledore was striding serenely across the room wearing long midnight-blue robes and a perfectly calm expression. His long silver beard and hair gleamed in the torchlight as he drew level with Harry and looked up at Fudge through the half-moon spectacles that rested halfway down his very crooked nose.**

"That was a delightful description Harry, I thank you," said Dumbledore smiling at Harry's forehead.

Harry blushed and replied, "Err…no problem Professor," trying not to sound too annoyed that Dumbledore was once again not looking him in the eye.

**The members of the Wizengamot were muttering. All eyes were now on Dumbledore. Some looked annoyed, others slightly frightened; two elderly witches in the back row, however, raised their hands and waved in welcome.**

"At least some of them still seem to like you Sir," said George as Dumbledore chuckled,

"So it would seem."

**A powerful emotion had risen in Harry's chest at the sight of Dumbledore, a fortified, hopeful feeling rather like that which phoenix song gave him. He wanted to catch Dumbledore's eye, but Dumbledore was not looking his way; he was continuing to look up at the obviously flustered Fudge.**

**'Ah,' said Fudge, who looked thoroughly disconcerted. 'Dumbledore. Yes. You - err - got our - err - message that the time and - err - place of the hearing had been changed, then?'**

"Not so confident now, are you Fudge," grinned Tonks.

**'I must have missed it,' said Dumbledore cheerfully. 'However, due to a lucky mistake I arrived at the Ministry three hours early, so no harm done.'**

**'Yes - well - I suppose we'll need another chair - I - Weasley, could you - ?'**

**'Not to worry, not to worry,' said Dumbledore pleasantly; he took out his wand, gave it a little flick, and a squashy chintz armchair appeared out of nowhere next to Harry. Dumbledore sat down, out the tips of his long fingers together and surveyed Fudge over them with an expression of polite interest. The Wizengamot was still muttering and fidgeting restlessly; only when Fudge spoke again did they settle down.**

"Yes I suspect they would be rather put off by your sudden appearance, Dumbledore," smiled Remus.

**'Yes,' said Fudge again, shuffling his notes. 'Well, then. So. The charges. Yes.'**

**He extricated a piece of parchment from the pile before him, took a deep breath, and read out; the charges against the accused are as follows:**

**That he did knowingly, deliberately and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a Muggle, on the second of August at twenty-three minutes past nine, which constitutes an offence under Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy.**

**'You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?'**

"No, I'm the other one," muttered Harry sarcastically.

**Fudge said, glaring at Harry over the top of his parchment.**

**'Yes,' Harry said.**

**'You received an official warning from the Ministry for using illegal magic three years ago, did you not?'**

**'Yes, but - '**

"He's not even giving you a chance to explain!" cried Hermione.

**'And yet you conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August?' said Fudge.**

**'Yes,' said Harry, 'but - '**

**'Knowing that you are not permitted to use magic outside school while you are under the age of seventeen?'**

**'Yes, but - '**

Sirius couldn't take it; he stood, carefully steeping between Harry and Ginny before beginning to pace behind the lounge.

"You can keep reading," he told Ginny, who had stopped to stare, as the rest of the room were, at Sirius.

"Are you sure?" she asked frowning.

"He'll be fine, pacing calms him down, just keep reading and then he'll sit when Harry is cleared," Remus answered. Ginny nodded and continued reading; glancing over her shoulder at Sirius to make sure he could hear.

**'Knowing that you were in an area full of Muggles?'**

**'Yes, but - '**

**'Fully aware that you were in close proximity to a Muggle at the time?'**

"A Muggle who was fully aware that magic exists at the time," muttered Hermione.

**'Yes,' said Harry angrily, 'but I only used it because we were - '**

**The witch with the monocle cut across him in a booming voice.**

**'You produced a fully-fledged Patronus?'**

"Thanks to you Professor Moony," smiled Sirius while still pacing.

**'Yes,' said Harry, 'because - '**

**'A corporeal Patronus?'**

**'A - what?' said Harry.**

"It means the Patronus has a form, rather than just being a cloud of silver vapour," said Remus.

**'Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to say, it was more than vapour or smoke?'**

"You know you're allowed to let the book explain, Moony," smirked Sirius, before ducking mid-step to avoid the pillow Remus had flung at him.

**'Yes,' said Harry, feeling both impatient and slightly desperate, 'it's a stag, it's always a stag.'**

Harry and the two Marauders smiled. Harry loved the feeling that his father was still watching over him in his animagus form, helping him when he needed him most.

**'Always?' boomed Madam Bones. 'You have produced a Patronus before now?'**

**'Yes,' said Harry, 'I've been doing it for over a year.'**

**'And you are fifteen years old?'**

**'Yes, and - '**

**'You learned this at school?'**

**'Yes, Professor Lupin taught me in my third year, because of the - '**

"You must have been one hell of a teacher," said Tonks wide-eyed. Remus blushed after all Harry had done most of the work, Remus had merely instructed him.

"Don't get that look Professor Moony, you were the best," said Harry loudly.

"Not you too, Professor Moony, really?" asked Remus as Harry grinned.

"It stays, but I promise only to use it when you do professory things," he laughed and Remus sighed, he was going to kill Sirius.

**'Impressive,' said Madam Bones, staring down at him, 'a true Patronus at his age . . . very impressive indeed.'**

**Some of the wizards and witches around her were muttering again; a few nodded, but others were frowning and shaking their heads.**

**'It's not a question of how impressive the magic was,' said Fudge in a testy voice, 'in fact, the more impressive the worse it is, I would have thought, given that the boy did it in plain view of a Muggle!'**

**Those who had been frowning now murmured in agreement, but it was the sight of Percy's sanctimonious little nod that goaded Harry into speech.**

"Sanctimonious?" asked the Twins

"It means self-righteous," Hermione told them.

"Oh, so he's being a pompous prat again," said Fred scowling.

**'I did it because of the Dementors!' he said loudly, before anyone could interrupt him again.**

"Good, now we might actually get somewhere," said Molly, all those interruptions were doing her head in.

**He had expected more muttering, but the silence that fell seemed to be somehow denser than before.**

**'Dementors?' said Madam Bones after a moment, her thick eyebrows rising until her monocle looked in danger of falling out. 'What do you mean, boy?'**

**'I mean there were two Dementors down that alleyway and they went for me and my cousin!'**

**'Ah,' said Fudge again, smirking unpleasantly as he looked around at the Wizengamot, as though inviting them to share the joke. 'Yes. Yes, I thought we'd be hearing something like this.'**

**'Dementors in Little Whinging?' Madam Bones said, in a tone of great surprise. 'I don't understand - '**

**'Don't you, Amelia?' said Fudge, still smirking. 'Let me explain. He's been thinking it through and decided Dementors would make a very nice little cover story very nice indeed. Muggles can't see Dementors, can they, boy? Highly convenient, highly convenient . . . so it's just your word and no witnesses . . .'**

"I'm not lying!" yelled Harry. He hated people who told him he was lying, he had had enough of it at the Dursley's and he wasn't just going to stand there and take it anymore.

"We know Harry-" started Hermione.

"I know you know Hermione, but it's not you that I'm worried about, it's every other effing person who's calling me a liar that I can't stand" snapped Harry cutting her off. Sirius, who as slowly wearing a hole in his new carpet leaned over the back of the lounge where Harry was sitting and lightly flicked him in the ear,

"Language Harry," he said quietly.

"Sorry," Harry said looking at Sirius who had gone back to pacing before turning to Hermione. "I'm sorry I snapped it's just I hate being called a liar," he told her, glancing towards Snape who scoffed at him.

"I know Harry," she said pulling him into a hug.

**'I'm not lying!' said Harry loudly, over another outbreak of muttering from the court. There were two of them, coming from opposite ends of the alley everything went dark and cold and my cousin felt them and ran for it - '**

**'Enough, enough!' said Fudge, with a very supercilious look on his face. 'I'm sorry to interrupt what I'm sure would have been a very well-rehearsed story - '**

**Dumbledore cleared his throat. The Wizengamot fell silent again.**

**'We do, in fact, have a witness to the presence of Dementors in that alleyway,' he said, 'other than Dudley Dursley, I mean.'**

**Fudges plump face seemed to slacken, as though somebody had let air out of it. **

Sirius let out a bark of laughter, he may not see exactly eye to eye with the man at the moment but he had to admit, Dumbledore sure knew how to shut somebody up.

**He stared down at Dumbledore for a moment or two, then, with the appearance of a man pulling himself back together, said, 'We haven't got time to listen to more tarradiddles, I'm afraid, Dumbledore. I want this dealt with quickly - '**

"That's completely unfair!" cried Emmeline.

"Don't worry love, Dumbledore won't let them get away with it, they have to let Harry present a witness, it's the law," said Sirius soothingly barely restraining himself from running his hand through her soft curls. What was wrong with him? He hadn't even been with her for a day and he was already getting weird urges. Maybe it was his old feelings for her coming back or maybe he was just going crazy, and it was all in his head, he wasn't really sure.

**'I may be wrong,' said Dumbledore pleasantly, 'but I am sure that under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the accused has the right to present witnesses for his or her case? Isn't that the policy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Bones?' he continued, addressing the witch in the monocle.**

"Yes, I do believe that is true," chuckled Dumbledore.

**'True,' said Madam Bones. 'Perfectly true.'**

**'Oh, very well, very well,' snapped Fudge. 'Where is this person?'**

**'I brought her with me,' said Dumbledore. 'She's just outside the door. Should I - ?'**

**'No - Weasley, you go,' Fudge barked at Percy, who got up at once, ran down the stone steps from the judge's balcony and hurried past Dumbledore and Harry without glancing at them.**

**A moment later, Percy returned, followed by Mrs Figg. She looked scared and more batty than ever. Harry wished she had thought to change out of her carpet slippers.**

**Dumbledore stood up and gave Mrs Figg his chair, conjuring a second one for himself.**

**'Full name?' said Fudge loudly, when Mrs Figg had perched herself nervously on the very edge of her seat.**

**'Arabella Doreen Figg,' said Mrs Figg in her quavery voice.**

Bill groaned, that was just what they needed, their defence to go to pieces from intimidation.

**'And who exactly are you?' said Fudge, in a bored and lofty voice**

**'I'm a resident of Little Whinging, close to where Harry Potter lives,' said Mrs Figg.**

**'We have no record of any witch or wizard living in Little Whinging, other than Harry Potter,' said Madam Bones at once 'That situation has always been closely monitored, given . . . given past events.'**

**'I'm a Squib,' said Mrs Figg. 'So you wouldn't have me registered, would you?'**

"Why aren't Squib's registered?" asked Hermione.

"To put it bluntly, they don't have wands," said Remus shrugging.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that the Ministry doesn't feel the need to keep track of them, it's the same with the parents of muggle-borns, their children are in the system but they are not."

"But that's a horrible way to keep track of people," cried Hermione.

**'A Squib, eh?' said Fudge, eyeing her closely. 'We'll be checking that. You'll leave details of your parentage with my assistant Weasley. Incidentally, can Squibs see Dementors?' he added, looking left and right along the bench.**

**"Yes, we can!' said Mrs Figg indignantly.**

**Fudge looked back down at her, his eyebrows raised. 'Very well,' he said aloofly. 'What is your story?'**

"Hopefully it's not her life story," joke Bill.

**'I had gone out to buy cat food from the corner shop at the end of Wisteria Walk, **

"But I've been wrong before," he added as the Twins sniggered.

**around about nine o'clock, on the evening of the second of August,' gabbled Mrs Figg at once, as though she had learned what she was saying by heart, 'when I heard a disturbance down the alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. On approaching the mouth of the alleyway I saw Dementors running - '**

Remus almost face-palmed, _Dementors running _that had to be one of the worst things she could say!

**'Running?' said Madam Bones sharply. 'Dementors don't run, they glide.'**

**'That's what I meant to say,' said Mrs Figg quickly, patches of pink appearing in her withered cheeks. 'Gliding along the alley towards what looked like two boys.'**

**'What did they look like?' said Madam Bones, narrowing her eyes so that the edge of the monocle disappeared into her flesh.**

**'Well, one was very large and the other one rather skinny - '**

Sirius let out another bark like laugh, imagining two Dementors, one very fat and the other very skinny, kind of like the Blues Brothers. _Huh, maybe I could use that for a boggart_ he thought.

**'No, no,' said Madam Bones impatiently. 'The Dementors . . . describe them.'**

**'Oh,' said Mrs Figg, the pink flush creeping up her neck now. They were big. Big and wearing cloaks.**

"She did actually see them didn't she?" asked Hermione hesitantly.

"It doesn't sound like it," said Ron gulping loudly.

**Harry felt a horrible sinking in the pit of his stomach. Whatever Mrs Figg might say, it sounded to him as though the most she had ever seen was a picture of a Dementor, and a picture could never convey the truth of what these beings were like: the eerie way they moved, hovering inches over the ground; or the rotting smell of them; or that terrible rattling noise they made as they sucked on the surrounding air . . .**

Harry shivered in his place next to Ginny, who shifted the book so she could squeeze his hand. _This isn't so bad_ she thought, _now I just have to be able to have a full conversation with him and I'll be set._

**In the second row, a dumpy wizard with a large black moustache leaned close to whisper in the ear of his neighbour, a frizzy-haired witch. She smirked and nodded.**

**'Big and wearing cloaks,' repeated Madam Bones coolly, while Fudge snorted derisively. 'I see. Anything else?'**

"Oh Merlin please say something else," cried Molly.

"It'll be fine dear," said Arthur unsuccessfully trying to reassure her.

**'Yes,' said Mrs Figg. 'I felt them. Everything went cold, and this was a very warm summer's night, mark you. And I felt . . . as though all happiness had gone from the world . . . and I remembered . . . dreadful things . . .'**

**Her voice shook and died.**

"Thank Merlin, that should convince some of them, it's very hard to fake what a Dementor makes you feel," Remus said letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

**Madam Bones's eyes widened slightly. Harry could see red marks under her eyebrow where the monocle had dug into it.**

**'What did the Dementors do?' she asked, and Harry felt a rush of hope.**

**They went for the boys,' said Mrs Figg, her voice stronger and more confident now, the pink flush ebbing away from her face. 'One of them had fallen. The other was backing away, trying to repel the Dementor. That was Harry. He tried twice and produced only silver vapour. On the third attempt, he produced a Patronus, which charged down the first Dementor and then, with his encouragement, chased the second one away from his cousin. And that . . . that is what happened,' Mrs Figg finished, somewhat lamely.**

Sirius chose this moment to return to his seat, he hadn't quite calmed down again but he was making himself dizzy going backwards and forwards every few minutes. He sat down noticed that Emmeline had unconsciously moved closer to him...maybe he should go back to pacing?

**Madam Bones looked down at Mrs Figg in silence. Fudge was not looking at her at all, but fidgeting with his papers. Finally, he raised his eyes and said, rather aggressively, That's what you saw, is it?'**

**That is what happened,' Mrs Figg repeated.**

"Good she's being decisive and forceful, he won't be able to bully her now," said Moody for the first time in ages.

"Oh, I thought you were asleep Mad-Eye," laughed Tonks.

"You just watch yourself," growled Moody as Tonks laughed again.

**'Very well,' said Fudge. 'You may go.'**

**Mrs Figg cast a frightened look from Fudge to Dumbledore, then got up and shuffled off towards the door. Harry heard it thud shut behind her.**

**'Not a very convincing witness,' said Fudge loftily.**

**'Oh, I don't know,' said Madam Bones, in her booming voice. 'She certainly described the effects of a Dementor attack very accurately. And I can't imagine why she would say they were there if they weren't.'**

"Exactly," said Arthur also speaking up for the first time in a while.

**'But Dementors wandering into a Muggle suburb and just happening to come across a wizard?' snorted Fudge. The odds on that must be very, very long. Even Bagman wouldn't have bet - '**

**'Oh, I don't think any of us believe the Dementors were there by coincidence,' said Dumbledore lightly.**

**The witch sitting to the right of Fudge, with her face in shade w, moved slightly but everyone else was quite still and silent.**

**'And what is that supposed to mean?' Fudge asked icily.**

**'It means that I think they were ordered there,' said Dumbledore. **

"By who though?" asked Kingsley.

"That, I think is something that we will only discover if we read the rest of this book," said Dumbledore motioning for Ginny to keep reading.

**'I think we might have a record of it if someone had ordered a pair of Dementors to go strolling through Little Whinging!' barked Fudge.**

**'Not if the Dementors are taking orders from someone other than the Ministry of Magic these days,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'I have already given you my views on this matter, Cornelius.'**

"But you said, that it wasn't Voldemort," said Harry surprised at what the Dumbledore in the book was implying.

"I know, but it seems, that I am either giving Cornelius a way out of this debacle or I am once again pushing for him to see sense and admit that Voldemort is back," Dumbledore told him simply.

**'Yes, you have,' said Fudge forcefully, 'and I have no reason to believe that your views are anything other than bilge, Dumbledore. The Dementors remain in place in Azkaban and are doing everything we ask them to.'**

**Then,' said Dumbledore, quietly but clearly, 'we must ask ourselves why somebody within the Ministry ordered a pair of Dementors into that alleyway on the second of August.'**

"Yes, I must have been suggesting that he admit that it could have been Voldemort, but when he wouldn't do that

**In the complete silence that greeted these words, the witch to the right of Fudge leaned forwards so that Harry saw her for the first time.**

**He thought she looked just like a large, pale toad. **

The room burst into laughter at once following Harry's proclamation.

**She was rather squat with a broad, flabby face, as little neck as Uncle Vernon and a very wide, slack mouth. Her eyes were large, round and slightly bulging. Even the little black velvet bow perched on top of her short curly hair put him in mind of a large fly she was about to catch on a long sticky tongue.**

"Harry, th-that has t-to be the f-funniest thing you ha-have ever said," said Fred in between laughs.

**The Chair recognises Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister,' said Fudge.**

Hearing that it was Umbridge that had just been described, Remus laughed even harder than before.

**The witch spoke in a fluttery, girlish, high-pitched voice that took Harry aback; he had been expecting a croak.**

The room had now been trying to calm down now for the last five minutes, once again burst out laughing.

"Ah, Harry," said George sighing from laughter, "Why can't you be this funny all the time?" Harry grinned and poked his tongue out.

**'I'm sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor Dumbledore,' she said, with a simper that felt her big, round eyes as cold as ever. 'So silly of me. But it sounded for a teensy moment as though you were suggesting that the Ministry of Magic had ordered an attack on this boy!'**

"It was totally her," Ron muttered loudly, making Hermione roll her eyes and Molly frown at him. _Ron couldn't just go around making unfounded accusations about people_. That particular thought, however, made her wince, because that was exactly what the Ministry was doing to Harry.

**She gave a silvery laugh that made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand up. A few other members of the Wizengamot laughed with her. It could not have been plainer that not one of them was really amused.**

**'If it is true that the Dementors are taking orders only from the Ministry of Magic, and it is also true that two Dementors attacked Harry and his cousin a week ago, then it follows logically that somebody at the Ministry might have ordered the attacks,' said Dumbledore politely. 'Of course, these particular Dementors may have been outside Ministry control - '**

**'There are no Dementors outside Ministry control!' snapped Fudge, who had turned brick red.**

"Merlin, just take the out all ready, it's not that hard!" exclaimed Bill.

**Dumbledore inclined his head in a little bow.**

**'Then undoubtedly the Ministry will be making a full inquiry into why two Dementors were so very far from Azkaban and why they attacked without authorisation.'**

**'It is not for you to decide what the Ministry of Magic does or does not do, Dumbledore!' snapped Fudge, now a shade of magenta of which Uncle Vernon would have been proud.**

**'Of course it isn't,' said Dumbledore mildly. 'I was merely expressing my confidence that this matter will not go uninvestigated.'**

**He glanced at Madam Bones, who readjusted her monocle and stared back at him, frowning slightly.**

**'I would remind everybody that the behaviour of these Dementors, if indeed they are not figments of this boy's imagination, is not the subject of this hearing!' said Fudge. 'We are here to examine Harry Potter's offences under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery!'**

**'Of course we are,' said Dumbledore, 'but the presence of Dementors in that alleyway is highly relevant. Clause Seven of the Decree states that magic may be used before Muggles in exceptional circumstances, and as those exceptional circumstances include situations which threaten the life of the wizard or witch him- or herself, or any witches, wizards or Muggles present at the time of the - '**

**'We are familiar with Clause Seven, thank you very much!' snarled Fudge.**

**'Of course you are,' said Dumbledore courteously. Then we are in agreement that Harry's use of the Patronus Charm in these circumstances falls precisely into the category of exceptional circumstances the clause describes?'**

"You've got him there," chuckled Kingsley.

**'If there were Dementors, which I doubt.'**

**'You have heard it from an eyewitness,' Dumbledore interrupted.**

**'If you still doubt her truthfulness, call her back, question her again. I am sure she would not object.'**

**'I - that - not -' blustered Fudge, fiddling with the papers before him. 'It's - I want this over with today, Dumbledore!'**

"Then stop making up excuses and get on with it!" yelled Emmeline.

**'But naturally, you would not care how many times you heard from a witness, if the alternative was a serious miscarriage of justice,' said Dumbledore.**

**'Serious miscarriage, my hat!' said Fudge at the top of his voice. 'Have you ever bothered to tot up the number of cock-and-bull stories this boy has come out with, Dumbledore, while trying to cover up his flagrant misuse of magic out of school? I suppose you've forgotten the Hover Charm he used three years ago - '**

**'That wasn't me, it was a house-elf!' said Harry.**

**'YOU SEE?' roared Fudge, gesturing flamboyantly in Harry's direction. 'A house-elf! In a Muggle house! I ask you.'**

"A house-elf who is currently at Hogwarts and would do anything for 'Master Harry'," muttered Ron in Harry's ear, his voice sounding awe struck as he said 'Master Harry' at the end.

"Shut up," growled Harry mock glaring at his best friend who was laughing at the look on his face.

**The house-elf in question is currently in the employ of Hogwarts School,' said Dumbledore. 'I can summon him here in an instant to give evidence if you wish.'**

**'I - not - I haven't got time to listen to house-elves! Anyway, that's not the only - he blew up his aunt, for God's sake!' Fudge shouted, banging his fist on the judge's bench and upsetting a bottle of ink.**

The room laughed, as some of the tension slipped out of the room, Fudge was just grasping for straws now and Dumbledore was shooting down every argument he could think of before he had a chance to come up with another excuse.

**'And you very kindly did not press charges on that occasion, accepting, I presume, that even the best wizards cannot always control their emotions,' said Dumbledore calmly, as Fudge attempted to scrub the ink off his notes.**

**'And I haven't even started on what he gets up to at school.'**

"That has nothing to do with the Ministry though," Hermione snapped. She didn't like the thought of the Ministry messing with Hogwarts, it just wasn't right.

**'But, as the Ministry has no authority to punish Hogwarts students for misdemeanours at school, Harry's behaviour there is not relevant to this hearing,' said Dumbledore, as politely as ever, but now with a suggestion of coolness behind his words.**

"Cornelius knows very well that if he wants something to happen at Hogwarts it not only has to go through the Board but me as well," said Dumbledore calmly.

**'Oho!' said Fudge. 'Not our business what he does at school, eh? You think so?'**

"When has it ever been their business," sneered Ron.

**The Ministry does not have the power to expel Hogwarts students, Cornelius, as I reminded you on the night of the second of August,' said Dumbledore. 'Nor does it have the right to confiscate wands until charges have been successfully proven; again, as I reminded you on the night of the second of August, in your admirable haste to ensure that the law is upheld, you appear, inadvertently I am sure, to have overlooked a few laws yourself.'**

"Of course he did, he would turn a blind eye to anything as long as it made him look good, and I bet he was waiting for something to happen with Harry so he could discredit him further," growled Tonks.

**'Laws can be changed,' said Fudge savagely.**

**'Of course they can,' said Dumbledore, inclining his head. 'And you certainly seem to be making many changes, Cornelius. Why, in the few short weeks since I was asked to leave the Wizengamot, it has already become the practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic!'**

"That will get you a few votes, I'd say the idea of that trial didn't sit well with the majority of the people there," said Moody.

"That's true," agreed Tonks.

**A few of the wizards above them shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Fudge turned a slightly deeper shade of puce. The toadlike witch on his right, however, merely gazed at Dumbledore, her face quite expressionless.**

_She'll be one to watch for_ thought Moody.

**'As far as I am aware,' Dumbledore continued, 'there is no law yet in place that says this court's job is to punish Harry for every bit of magic he has ever performed. He has been charged with a specific offence and he has presented his defence. All he and I can do now is to await your verdict.'**

**Dumbledore put his fingertips together again and said no more. Fudge glared at him, evidently incensed. Harry glanced sideways at Dumbledore, seeking reassurance; he was not at all sure that Dumbledore was right in telling the Wizengamot, in effect, that it was about time they made a decision. Again, however, Dumbledore seemed oblivious to Harry's attempt to catch his eye. **

Harry frowned, _what is with that?_ He thought. He would understand if Dumbledore was just too busy with the Order and Hogwarts to talk to him, but actively ignoring him, he didn't care if Dumbledore said it would be in the book, he wanted answers now and not getting them was starting to get on his nerves.

**He continued to look up at the benches where the entire Wizengamot had fallen into urgent, whispered conversations.**

**Harry looked at his feet. His heart, which seemed to have swollen to an unnatural size, was thumping loudly under his ribs. He had expected the hearing to last longer than this. He was not at all sure that he had made a good impression. He had not really said very much. **

"That's hardly your fault Harry," Hermione told him.

"She knows she's talking to a book right?" Ron whispered to Harry behind Hermione's back.

"I dunno, sometimes I think she talks to her _Hogwarts: A History_ book," Harry replied as Ron sniggered.

"You know I can hear you," Hermione hissed at them. They blanched and shot her a look that she guessed was supposed to be innocent. It didn't work; she rolled her eyes at them before cuffing them in the back of their heads, ignoring the odd looks she was being given.

"Please continue Ginny," she said as the boys rubbed their heads.

**He ought to have explained more fully about the Dementors, about how he had fallen over, about how both he and Dudley had nearly been kissed . . .**

**Twice he looked up at Fudge and opened his mouth to speak, but his swollen heart was now constricting his air passages and both times he merely took a deep breath and looked back down at his shoes.**

"Your body is weird Harry," said Fred and Harry poked his tongue out at him.

**Then the whispering stopped. Harry wanted to look up at the judges, but found that it was really much, much easier to keep examining his laces.**

**'Those in favour of clearing the witness of all charges?' said Madam Bones's booming voice.**

**Harry's head jerked upwards. There were hands in the air, many of them . . . more than half! **

There was a cheer around the room.

**Breathing very fast, he tried to count, but before he could finish, Madam Bones had said, 'And those in favour of conviction?'**

**Fudge raised his hand; so did half a dozen others, including the witch on his right and the heavily-moustached wizard and the frizzy-haired witch in the second row.**

**Fudge glanced around at them all, looking as though there was something large stuck in his throat, then lowered his own hand. He took two deep breaths and said, in a voice distorted by suppressed rage, 'Very well, very well . . . cleared of all charges.'**

"Whoo it's official!" cried George.

"Not quite, I still actually have to go to the trial yet," said Harry feeling much better about the entire thing.

"And I can assure you that it will be in Madame Bones's office this time Harry," said Dumbledore, this time, looking to Harry's left ear.

**'Excellent,' said Dumbledore briskly, springing to his feel, pulling out his wand and causing the two chintz armchairs to vanish. 'Well, I must be getting along. Good-day to you all.'**

Harry frowned; Dumbledore wasn't even going to say anything to him?

**And without looking once at Harry, he swept from the dungeon.**

Harry felt his blood boil as a sudden wave of anger over came him. Why was Dumbledore ignoring him? Was it something he had said, something he had done? He knew Dumbledore said it would come up in the book but was it so much to ask to have the answer now?

"Harry…Harry?" Came Ginny's voice from his left; she was waving her hand in front of his increasingly stormy face.

"Sorry, what?" he said shaking his head.

"I said are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah I'm fine, aren't you going to keep reading?"

"No, the chapter is over," she told him, then turning to the rest of the room, "who wants to read next?" she asked holding the book up in the air.

"I will," said Emmeline, taking the book from Ginny's raised hand. "Okay," she said, opening the book at the next chapter, then frowning at Molly read, "**The Woes of Mrs Weasley**,"


	13. The Woes of Mrs Weasley

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling. Please review :)**

* * *

The Woes of Mrs Weasley

**The Woes of Mrs Weasley**" read Emmeline.

Molly paled, her family didn't need to know how worried she actually was, and they didn't need to know about her nightmares, she knew that Arthur had his suspicious but her children had no idea.

"Are you okay mum?" asked Bill. Molly smiled and nodded, not quiet trusting her voice to not come out weak and shaky.

**Dumbledore's abrupt departure took Harry completely by surprise. He remained sitting where he was in the chained chair, struggling with his feelings of shock and relief. **

"You could have at least said something to him," said Sirius crossly.

"I assure you I have a good reason for not doing so," replied Dumbledore, speaking to Harry as much as Sirius.

**The Wizengamot were all getting to their feet, talking, gathering up their papers and packing them away. Harry stood up. Nobody seemed to be paying him the slightest bit of attention, except the toadlike witch on Fudge's right, who was now gazing down at him instead of at Dumbledore. **

Remus frowned, he was no stranger to the use of foreshadowing in stories and Umbridge was being mentioned far too much and in far too much detain for his liking.

**Ignoring her, he tried to catch Fudge's eye, or Madam Bones's, wanting to ask whether he was free to go, but Fudge seemed quite determined not to notice Harry, and Madam Bones was busy with her briefcase, so he took a few tentative steps towards the exit and, when nobody called him back, broke into a very fast walk.**

The Twins laughed.

"Want to get out of there aye Harry," joked George.

"Wouldn't you?" asked Harry raising an eyebrow. The Twins stopped laughing,

"Fair point," conceded Fred.

**He took the last few steps at a run, wrenched open the door and almost collided with Mr Weasley, who was standing right outside, looking pale and apprehensive.**

**'Dumbledore didn't say - '**

"Oh, so it's not just Harry who you don't tell anything, it's the rest of us as well," muttered Sirius.

**'Cleared,' Harry said, pulling the door closed behind him, 'of all charges!'**

**Beaming, Mr Weasley seized Harry by the shoulders.**  
**'Harry, that's wonderful! Well, of course, they couldn't have found you guilty, not on the evidence, but even so, I can't pretend I wasn't - '**

"Thanks Mr Weasley," said Harry dryly.

**But Mr Weasley broke off, because the courtroom door had just opened again. The Wizengamot were filing out.**

**'Merlin's beard!' exclaimed Mr Weasley wonderingly, pulling Harry aside to let them all pass. 'You were tried by the full court?'**

**'I think so,' said Harry quietly.**

**One or two of the wizards nodded to Harry as they passed and a few, including Madam Bones, said, 'Morning, Arthur,' to Mr Weasley, but most averted their eyes.**

"They're probably too embarrassed to say anything," muttered Arthur.

**Cornelius Fudge and the toadlike witch were almost the last to leave the dungeon. Fudge acted as though Mr Weasley and Harry were part of the wall, but again, the witch looked almost appraisingly at Harry as she passed. **

_That's definitely not good_, thought Remus frowning deeply.

**Last of all to pass was Percy. Like Fudge, he completely ignored his father and Harry; he marched past clutching a large roll of parchment and a handful of spare quills, his back rigid and his nose in the air. The lines around Mr Weasley's mouth tightened slightly, but other than this he gave no sign that he had seen his third son.**

Arthur sighed, he hated having to do that, but it was the best he could do to avoid another fight.

**'I'm going to take you straight back so you can tell the others the good news,' he said, beckoning Harry forwards as Percy's heels disappeared up the steps to Level Nine. 'I'll drop you off on the way to that toilet in Bethnal Green. Come on . . .'**

**'So, what will you have to do about the toilet?' Harry asked, grinning. Everything suddenly seemed five times funnier than usual. It was starting to sink in: he was cleared, he was going back to Hogwarts.**

Harry smiled widely at the book, not even caring that he hadn't actually done it yet.

**'Oh, it's a simple enough anti-jinx,' said Mr Weasley as they mounted the stairs, 'but it's not so much having to repair the damage, it's more the attitude behind the vandalism, Harry. Muggle-baiting might strike some wizards as funny, but it's an expression of something much deeper and nastier, and I for one - '**

**Mr Weasley broke off in mid-sentence. They had just reached the ninth-level corridor and Cornelius Fudge was standing a few feet away from them, talking quietly to a tall man with sleek blond hair and a pointed, pale face.**

"Who do we know who looks like that," said Ron sarcastically.

"If you're talking about Malfoy," glared Hermione.

"More like his daddy dearest," said Harry also glaring at the book.

**The second man turned at the sound of their footsteps. He, too, broke off in mid-conversation, his cold grey eyes narrowed and fixed upon Harry's face.**

"If he so much as looks at you the wrong way," growled Sirius.

**'Well, well, well . . . Patronus Potter,' said Lucius Malfoy coolly.**

"So that's where Malfoy gets his insults from," said Ron to Harry and Hermione.

"It's nice to see they haven't improved since we were at school," mocked Sirius.

"Well he never was very witty was he," added Remus dryly but there was an edge to his voice.

**Harry felt winded, as though he had just walked into something solid. He had last seen those cold grey eyes through slits in a Death Hater's hood, and last heard that man's voice jeering in a dark graveyard while Lord Voldemort tortured him. **

Harry flinched and Sirius pulled him up into a hug, not sure who he was really comforting, Harry or himself.

**Harry could not believe that Lucius Malfoy dared look him in the face; he could not believe that he was here, in the Ministry of Magic, or that Cornelius Fudge was talking to him, when Harry had told Fudge mere weeks ago that Malfoy was a Death Eater.**

**The Minister was just telling me about your lucky escape, Potter,' drawled Mr Malfoy. 'Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes . . . snakelike, in fact.'**

"Yes, even I have to admit you can be very cunning when you want to be," added Snape sounding as if it pained him to admit it. Harry frowned; maybe that was why the Sorting Hat had said he would have done well in Slytherin.

**Mr Weasley gripped Harry's shoulder in warning.**

**'Yeah,' said Harry, 'yeah, I'm good at escaping.'**

"Thank Merlin," muttered Sirius as he released Harry, who slid back his place on the floor.

**Lucius Malfoy raised his eyes to Mr Weasley's face.**

**'And Arthur Weasley too! What are you doing here, Arthur?'**

**'I work here,' said Mr Weasley curtly.**

**'Not here, surely?' said Mr Malfoy, raising his eyebrows and glancing towards the door over Mr Weasley's shoulder. 'I thought you were up on the second floor . . . don't you do something that involves sneaking Muggle artefacts home and bewitching them?'**

Arthur growled under his breath, Lucius thought he was so much better than everyone else just because he had a lot of money, he probably had never worked a decent hard day in his entire life. Instead he sat in some fancy office all day making Fudge his lap dog and doing Merlin knows what else.

**'No,' Mr Weasley snapped, his fingers now biting into Harry's shoulder.**

**'What are you doing here, anyway?' Harry asked Lucius Malfoy.**

**'I don't think private matters between myself and the Minister are any concern of yours, Potter,' said Malfoy, smoothing the front of his robes. **

"He's paying him off then," said Sirius bitterly.

**Harry distinctly heard the gentle clinking of what sounded like a full pocket of gold. **

Harry glowered at the book, was Fudge really that stupid?

**'Really, just because you are Dumbledore's favourite boy, you must not expect the same indulgence from the rest of us . . . shall we go up to your office, then, Minister?'**

**'Certainly,' said Fudge, turning his back on Harry and Mr Weasley. This way, Lucius.'**

**They strode off together, talking in low voices. Mr Weasley did not let go of Harry's shoulder until they had disappeared into the lift.**

**'Why wasn't he waiting outside Fudge's office if they've got business to do together?' Harry burst out furiously. 'What was he doing down here?'**

"Sneaking around as usual," mutter Arthur.

**'Trying to sneak down to the courtroom, if you ask me,' said Mr Weasley, looking extremely agitated and glancing over his shoulder as though making sure they could not be overheard. 'Trying to find out whether you'd been expelled or not. I'll leave a note for Dumbledore when I drop you off, he ought to know Malfoy's been talking to Fudge again.'**

"Yes, it is rather distressing to hear," murmured Dumbledore gravely.

**'What private business have they got together, anyway?'**

**'Gold, I expect,' said Mr Weasley angrily. 'Malfoy's been giving generously to all sorts of things for years . . . gets him in with the right people . . . then he can ask favours . . . delay laws he doesn't want passed . . . oh, he's very well-connected, Lucius Malfoy.'**

"Course he is," muttered Bill rolling his eyes so fast it made his head spin, thus missing the next few words.

**The lift arrived; it was empty except for a flock of memos that flapped around Mr Weasley's head as he pressed the button for the Atrium and the doors clanged shut. He waved them away irritably.**

**'Mr Weasley,' said Harry slowly, 'if Fudge is meeting Death Eaters like Malfoy, if he's seeing them alone, how do we know they haven't put the Imperius Curse on him?'**

"Because they don't need to, Cornelius's denial is doing all the work for them," said Dumbledore answering Harry question.

"The Dark Lord will only put the Imperius on him if he shows signs of siding with Dumbledore, and even then, I doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference," commented Snape rolling his eyes at Fudge's incompetence.

**'Don't think it hasn't occurred to us, Harry,' said Mr Weasley quietly. 'But Dumbledore thinks Fudge is acting of his own accord at the moment - which, as Dumbledore says, is not a lot of comfort. Best not talk about it anymore just now, Harry.'**

"You shouldn't even be talking about that kind of stuff in the elevator, you never know who is listening," growled Moody.

**The doors slid open and they stepped out into the now almost-deserted Atrium. Eric the watchwizard was hidden behind his Daily Prophet again. They had walked straight past the golden fountain before Harry remembered.**

**'Wait . . .' he told Mr Weasley, and, pulling his moneybag from his pocket, he turned back to the fountain.**

Emmeline, Tonks and Molly smiled at Harry for remembering his promise.

**He looked up into the handsome wizard's face, but close-to Harry thought he looked rather weak and foolish. The witch was wearing a vapid smile like a beauty contestant, and from what Harry knew of goblins and centaurs, they were most unlikely to be caught staring so soppily at humans of any description. Only the house-elf's attitude of creeping servility looked convincing. **

Harry and Ron grinned as Hermione fought to stop herself from saying anything.

**With a grin at the thought of what Hermione would say if she could see the statue of the elf, Harry turned his moneybag upside-down and emptied not just ten Galleons, but the whole contents into the pool.**

"That's very generous of you Harry," beamed Remus as the rest of the room, including Snape, though it was grudgingly, nodded and Harry blushed, making a note to do the same thing this time around.

**'I knew it!' yelled Ron, punching the air. 'You always get away with stuff!'**

**'They were bound to clear you,' said Hermione, who had looked positively faint with anxiety when Harry had entered the kitchen and was now holding a shaking hand over her eyes, 'there was no case against you, none at all.'**

Harry laughed.

"What?" asked Bill.

"I just think it's funny how relieved everyone seems to be even though you all kept saying how I would get off," Harry laughed again as some of the group blushed.

**'Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering you all knew I'd get off,' said Harry, smiling.**

"Good to see you don't change in the next week or so Harry," teased George causing Harry to poke his tongue out and the others to laugh.

**Mrs Weasley was wiping her face on her apron, and Fred, George and Ginny were doing a kind of war dance to a chant that went: 'He got off, he got off, he got off . . .'**

**That's enough! Settle down!' shouted Mr Weasley, though he too was smiling. 'Listen, Sirius, Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry - '**

**'What?' said Sirius sharply.**

**'He got off, he got off, he got off . . .'**

**'Be quiet, you three! Yes, we saw him talking to Fudge on Level Nine, then they went up to Fudge's office together. Dumbledore ought to know.'**

"Duly noted," Dumbledore smiled.

**'Absolutely,' said Sirius. 'We'll tell him, don't worry.'**

**'Well, I'd better get going, there's a vomiting toilet waiting for me in Bethnal Green. Molly, I'll be late, I'm covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in for dinner - '**

**'He got off, he got off, he got off . . .'**

**That's enough - Fred - George - Ginny!' said Mrs Weasley, as Mr Weasley left the kitchen. 'Harry, dear, come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast.'**

**Ron and Hermione sat themselves down opposite him, looking happier than they had done since he had first arrived at Grimmauld Place, and Harry's feeling of giddy relief, which had been somewhat dented by his encounter with Lucius Malfoy, swelled again. **

Harry smiled at the thought.

**The gloomy house seemed warmer and more welcoming all of a sudden; even Kreacher looked less ugly as he poked his snoutlike nose into the kitchen to investigate the source of all the noise.**

"It's impossible for him to look less ugly," scoffed Sirius ignoring Hermione who had turned around to glare at him.

**'Course, once Dumbledore turned up on your side, there was no way they were going to convict you,' said Ron happily, now dishing great mounds of mashed potato on to everyone's plates.**

**'Yeah, he swung it for me,' said Harry. He felt it would sound highly ungrateful, not to mention childish, to say, 'I wish he'd talked to me, though. Or even looked at me.'**

"Don't worry Harry, it doesn't make you sound ungrateful at all," commented Sirius looking pointedly at Dumbledore who was successfully ignoring him.

**And as he thought this, the scar on his forehead burned so badly that he clapped his hand to it.**

**'What's up?' said Hermione, looking alarmed.**

**'Scar,' Harry mumbled. 'But it's nothing . . . it happens all the time now . . .'**

Harry looked at the ground to avoid all of the worried, pitying and sympathetic looks that were being thrown his way.

**None of the others had noticed a thing; all of them were now helping themselves to food while gloating over Harry's narrow escape; Fred, George and Ginny were still singing. Hermione looked rather anxious, but before she could say anything, Ron had said happily, 'I bet Dumbledore turns up this evening, to celebrate with us, you know.'**

"Unfortunately not, Mr Weasley," sighed Dumbledore.

**'I don't think he'll be able to, Ron,' said Mrs Weasley, setting a huge plate of roast chicken down in front of Harry. 'He's really very busy at the moment.'**

**'HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF. HE GOT OFF'**

**'SHUT UP!' roared Mrs Weasley.**

"Thank Merlin," sigh Molly relieved, the yelling was giving her a headache.

**Over the next few days Harry could not help noticing that there was one person within number twelve, Grimmauld Place, who did not seem wholly overjoyed that he would be returning to Hogwarts. Sirius had put up a very good show of happiness on first hearing the news, wringing Harry's hand and beaming just like the rest of them. **

Sirius frowned as Harry turned around to face him looking worried.

**Soon, however, he was moodier and surlier than before, talking less to everybody, even Harry, and spending increasing amounts of time shut up in his mother's room with Buckbeak.**

Emmeline exchanged glances with Remus, Tonks and Molly, they would have to make sure that Sirius wasn't getting too depressed; he didn't need anything else messing with his head while he was still trying to recover from Azkaban.

**'Don't you go feeling guilty!' said Hermione sternly, after Harry had confided some of his feelings to her and Ron while they scrubbed out a mouldy cupboard on the third floor a few days later. 'You belong at Hogwarts and Sirius knows it. Personally, I think he's being selfish.'**

Harry turned to glare at his friend, he knew that Sirius's problems had very little to do with Harry _actually_ going back to school, it was more the thoughts that he was going to be alone _again_ and away from Harry _again_ after so little time together.

**'That's a bit harsh, Hermione,' said Ron, frowning as he attempted to prise off a bit of mould that had attached itself firmly to his finger, 'you wouldn't want to be stuck inside this house without any company.'**

Sirius smiled weakly at Ron but didn't say anything, instead pulling Harry back into his lap seeking the comfort of his godson.

**'He'll have company!' said Hermione. 'It's Headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix, isn't it? He just got his hopes up that Harry would be coming to live here with him.'**

The Order winced, "That's not exactly true Hermione," said Kingsley.

"What do you mean?" she asked frowning.

"Well, between our jobs, guard duty and other missions for the Order, we aren't really here all that much," he told her.

"Usually it's just me and Remus, sometimes Tonks, but they are both away for long periods at a time," said Sirius quietly as Hermione frowned.

**'I don't think that's true,' said Harry, wringing out his cloth. 'He wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked him if I could.'**

Sirius sighed; he knew that Harry would still have to go back to the Dursley's, even if he didn't know exactly why. He was furious at Dumbledore, but there wasn't much he was able to do seeing as he was stuck in this stupid house.

**'He just didn't want to get his own hopes up even more,' said Hermione wisely. 'And he probably felt a bit guilty himself, because I think a part of him was really hoping you'd be expelled. Then you'd both be outcasts together.'**

"As much as I'd love for Harry to be here all the time Hermione, I know how much Hogwarts means to him," scowled Sirius causing Hermione to blush.

**'Come off it!' said Harry and Ron together, but Hermione merely shrugged.**

**'Suit yourselves. But I sometimes think Ron's mum's right and Sirius gets confused about whether you're you or your father, Harry.'**

Both Sirius and Harry flinched at this, the conversation that had occurred last night fresh in their minds. After they had gone up to Sirius's bedroom, Sirius had once again tried to explain things to him, but Harry could not quite overcome his sense of hurt over what Sirius had confessed, though the feeling was fading much quicker than it had last night and he was now able to see Sirius's point of view. Harry leaned further into his godfather's embrace and hugged him tighter.

"I forgive you," Harry whispered into Sirius's ear.

"Thank you," Sirius whispered back.

**'So you think he's touched in the head?' said Harry heatedly.**

**'No, I just think he's been very lonely for a long time,' said Hermione simply.**

**At this point, Mrs Weasley entered the bedroom behind them.**

**'Still not finished?' she said, poking her head into the cupboard.**

**'I thought you might be here to tell us to have a break!' said Ron bitterly. 'D'you know how much mould we've got rid of since we arrived here?'**

"A hell of a lot less than future you and Harry did last night," Tonks quipped, trying to relieve some of the tension in the room. It sort of worked as there were a few scattered chuckles around the room and Sirius's lips twitched.

**'You were so keen to help the Order,' said Mrs Weasley, 'you can do your bit by making Headquarters fit to live in.'**

**'I feel like a house-elf,' grumbled Ron.**

"Except without the job satisfaction," Ron added as Harry and the Twins laughed and Hermione scowled at him.

**'Well, now you understand what dreadful lives they lead, perhaps you'll be a bit more active in SPEW!' said Hermione hopefully, as Mrs Weasley left them to it. 'You know, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to show people exactly how horrible it is to clean all the time - we could do a sponsored scrub of Gryffindor common room, all proceeds to SPEW, it would raise awareness as well as funds.'**

**'I'll sponsor you to shut up about SPEW,' Ron muttered irritably, but only so Harry could hear him.**

Ron ducked as Hermione tried to wack him over the head,  
"It's important, you heard your future self last night, I make a difference with SPEW," she said shrewdly.

"Technically he said you made a difference with DEEPER, not SPEW," countered Ron.

"Anyway," said Harry loudly before a fight could break out. "Emmeline can you keep reading, they could take a while," he added grinning at his friends as they glared at him.

**Harry found himself daydreaming about Hogwarts more and more as the end of the holidays approached; he could not wait to see Hagrid again, to play Quidditch, even to stroll across the vegetable patches to the Herbology greenhouses; it would be a treat just to leave this dusty, musty house, where half of the cupboards were still bolted shut and Kreacher wheezed insults out of the shadows as you passed, though Harry was careful not to say any of this within earshot of Sirius.**

Sirius laughed, but it sounded forced and bitter, "It's okay Pup, I like this place even less than you do, though I do like this room," he told Harry.

"Yeah, I could get used to sitting in this room all day," said Harry smiling as Sirius smiled too.

**The fact as that living at the Headquarters of the anti-Voldemort movement was not nearly as interesting or exciting as Harry would have expected before he'd experienced it. Though members of the Order of the Phoenix came and went regularly, sometimes staying for meals, sometimes only for a few minutes of whispered conversation, Mrs Weasley made sure that Harry and the others were kept well out of earshot (whether Extendable or normal) and nobody, not even Sirius, seemed to feel that Harry needed to know anything more than he had heard on the night of his arrival.**

"Sorry, Harry, if I'm not allowed to tell you anymore than it is for your safety," Sirius whispered in Harry's ear.

"Well at least that's an actual reason," Harry muttered back. He hated it when people told him something was for his own good without actually telling him why.

**On the very last day of the holidays Harry was sweeping up Hedwig's owl droppings from the top of the wardrobe when Ron entered their bedroom carrying a couple of envelopes.**

**'Booklists have arrived,' he said, throwing one of the envelopes up to Harry, who was standing on a chair. 'About time, I thought they'd forgotten, they usually come much earlier than this . . .'**

**Harry swept the last of the droppings into a rubbish bag and threw the bag over Ron's head into the wastepaper basket in the corner, which swallowed it and belched loudly.**

"Lovely," grimaced Emmeline as the Twins, Ron and Harry laughed.

**He then opened his letter. It contained two pieces of parchment: one the usual reminder that term started on the first of September; the other telling him which books he would need for the coming year.**

**'Only two new ones,' he said, reading the list, The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, by Miranda Goshawk, and Defensive Magical Theory, by Wilbert Slinkhard.'**

"There's two books in that set, where's the other one?" asked Hermione.

"The Ministry probably doesn't want you actually trained in combat," Sirius told her.

"But we have OWLS this year, how are we supposed to pass if we don't know the practical side!" Hermione shrieked panic stricken.

"Calm down Hermione," soothed Ron.

"It'll be fine," added Harry as her shoulders relaxed out of their tensed position.

**Crack.**

**Fred and George Apparated right beside Harry. He was so used to them doing this by now that he didn't even fall off his chair.**

**'We were just wondering who set the Slinkhard book,' said Fred conversationally**

**'Because it means Dumbledore's found a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher,' said George.**

**'And about time too,' said Fred.**

**'What d'you mean?' Harry asked, jumping down beside them.**

**Well, we overheard Mum and Dad talking on the Extendable Ears a few weeks back,' Fred told Harry, 'and from what they were saying, Dumbledore was having real trouble finding anyone to do the job this year.'**

"I'm still surprised you've actually been able to find one every year for this long," commented Remus, there were rumours that the job had been jinxed for around four decades.

"Yes, I'm quite surprised myself," added Dumbledore as Emmeline continued.

**'Not surprising, is it, when you look at what's happened to the last four?' said George.**

**'One sacked, one dead, one's memory removed and one locked in a trunk for nine months,' said Harry, counting them off on his fingers. 'Yeah, I see what you mean.'**

"And to think I was the lucky one," laughed Remus.

"What about Moody?" asked Tonks looking at her mentor.

"Well, if you consider being locked in a trunk for nine months as lucky," said Remus raising an eyebrow at her.

"Touche," she laughed, grinning at him, causing Remus's heart to quicken it's pace without his permission.

**'What's up with you, Ron?' asked Fred.**

Ron frowned what would be the matter with him?

**Ron did not answer. Harry looked round. Ron was standing very still with his mouth slightly open, gaping at his letter from Hogwarts.**

Emmeline smiled reading slightly ahead, she hadn't really known Ron long but she had an inkling that he would make a wonderful Prefect.

**'What's the matter?' said Fred impatiently, moving around Ron to look over his shoulder at the parchment.**

**Fred's mouth fell open, too.**

**'Prefect?' he said, staring incredulously at the letter. 'Prefect?'**

The Twins jaws dropped,

"You're _Prefect_, you?" they said equally flabbergasted. Ron glared at them but didn't say anything, he couldn't speak, he was made a Prefect, how the hell had that happened?

**George leapt forwards, seized the envelope in Ron's other hand and turned it upside-down. Harry saw something scarlet and gold fall into George's palm.**

**'No way,' said George in a hushed voice.**

**'There's been a mistake,' said Fred, snatching the letter out of Ron's grasp and holding it up to the light as though checking for a watermark. 'No one in their right mind would make Ron a prefect.'**

The Twins winced as Ron visibly flinched. Figures, the one achievement he had in school that was nowhere near connected to Harry or saving the school or any other mental thing like that and all of a sudden he's not good enough.

"And what exactly is wrong with Ron being a prefect?" asked Bill glaring at his younger brothers.

**The twins' heads turned in unison and both of them stared at Harry.**

**'We thought you were a cert!' said Fred, in a tone that suggested Harry had tricked them in some way.**

**'We thought Dumbledore was bound to pick you!' said George indignantly.**

**'Winning the Triwizard and everything!' said Fred.**

"That that has very little to do with how prefects are chosen," said Dumbledore sternly.

**'I suppose all the mad stuff must've counted against him,' said George to Fred.**

**'Yeah,' said Fred slowly. 'Yeah, you've caused too much trouble, mate. Well, at least one of you've got their priorities right.'**

**He strode over to Harry and clapped him on the back while giving Ron a scathing look.**

Now Ron knew how Harry had felt last night when they were reading, with each knew sentence Ron's ears were getting redder and his expression darker. Was it too much for them to actually be happy for him?

**'Prefect . . . ickle Ronnie the Prefect.'**

**'Ohh, Mum's going to be revolting,' groaned George, thrusting the prefect badge back at Ron as though it might contaminate him.**

"Boys, that's no way to behave, you should be happy for your brother," said Arthur sternly before winking at Ron who smiled gratefully back. Arthur would never admit this out loud, nor would he every tell anyone, but Ron was his favourite, the other boys, as well as Ginny, had always gone to Molly for attention, but Ron had come to him. He could only wish that he could have spent more time with Ron when he was little, but between work and the rest of the family, Ron just seemed to get lost in the crowd.

**Ron, who still had not said a word, took the badge, stared at it for a moment, then held it out to Harry as though asking mutely for confirmation that it was genuine. Harry took it. A large 'P' was superimposed on the Gryffindor lion. He had seen a badge just like this on Percy's chest on his very first day at Hogwarts.**

Harry didn't know exactly how he was supposed to feel, he knew that this was something that he had not expected, but he also knew how much it would mean to Ron. Harry winced thinking what his reaction was going to be in the book.

**The door banged open. Hermione came tearing into the room, her cheeks flushed and her hair flying. There was an envelope in her hand.**

**'Did you - did you get - ?'**

"Oh no," moaned Hermione putting her head in her hands, shaking her head at the same time.

**She spotted the badge in Harry's hand and let out a shriek.**

"I'm so sorry," murmured Hermione through her fingers, which were now covering her mouth, to Ron.

"It's fine," he muttered in a tone that told her he was anything but fine.

**'I knew it!' she said excitedly, brandishing her letter. 'Me too, Harry, me too!'**

The room winced as Emmeline read the sentence, this chapter was getting worse and worse for Ron every second.

**'No,' said Harry quickly, pushing the badge back into Ron's hand. 'It's Ron, not me.'**

**'It - what?'**

**'Ron's prefect, not me,' Harry said.**

**'Ron?' said Hermione, her jaw dropping. 'But . . . are you sure? I mean - '**

**She turned red as Ron looked round at her with a defiant expression on his face.**

"It was my letter," he muttered through clenched teeth.

"I know, I'm sorry, I just jumped to conclusions," Hermione apologised again and Ron nodded but he would not look at her.

**'It's my name on the letter,' he said.**

**'I . . .' said Hermione, looking thoroughly bewildered. 'I . . . well . . . wow! Well done, Ron! That's really - '**

"Unexpected," cut in George.

"For the love of Merlin, I get it, Harry should be prefect and I'm going to suck at it, now shut up so we can get this over with," Ron growled. Emmeline nodded, this was not the happy moment she had envisioned when she had first started this part of the chapter, but then she didn't really know the Weasley's all that well. Sighing, she continued reading, trying to get it over with as fast as possible.

**'Unexpected,' said George, nodding.**

**'No,' said Hermione, blushing harder than ever, 'no it's not . . . Ron's done loads of . . . he's really . . .'**

"Yes Hermione please continue, I'd love to hear what I've done so well at," said Ron sarcastically, not really caring that a hurt look crossed her face at his biting remark.

"Ron, that's no way to talk to your friends," said Molly sternly, but when he made no move to apologise or take it back, she let it go, she knew listening to this couldn't be easy on him, especially since everyone seemed to think that it would have been Harry that got it.

**The door behind her opened a little wider and Mrs Weasley bucked into the room carrying a pile of freshly laundered robes.**

**'Ginny said the booklists had come at last,' she said, glancing around at all the envelopes as she made her way over to the bed and started sorting the robes into two piles. 'If you give them to me I'll take them over to Diagon Alley this afternoon and get your books while you're packing. Ron, I'll have to get you more pyjamas, these are at least six inches too short, I can't believe how fast you're growing . . . what colour would you like?'**

"Not maroon," Ron tried to joke, but it came out sounding strangled. Harry looked worriedly across at his best mate, feeling horrible that he had to hear this.

"I thought you liked maroon," said Molly, missing the don't-bring-this-up-right-now! look that everybody seemed to be sending her.

"It's fine, but since everything you have ever made or bought me has been nearly always marron, I'd appreciate another colour, like blue or something," said Ron tartly.

"Ron," said Arthur warningly, sure Ron was upset but that was no way to talk to his mother.

"Sorry mum," muttered Ron to Molly who waved off his apology and smiled weakly at him, she had deserved that, she thought.

**'Get him red and gold to match his badge,' said George, smirking.**

**'Match his what?' said Mrs Weasley absently, rolling up a pair of maroon socks and placing them on Ron's pile.**

**'His badge,' said Fred, with the air of getting the worst over quickly. 'His lovely shiny new prefect's badge.'**

Ron glared at his brother, who had the decency to at least look a bit sheepish at his comment.

**Fred's words took a moment to penetrate Mrs Weasley's preoccupation with pyjamas.**

**'His . . . but . . . Ron, you're not . . .?'**

Ron's anger had reached boiling point, his own mother hadn't believed that it would be possible for him to be a prefect. He stood abruptly banging his knee on the coffee table before muttering,

"I-I need some air," he said flatly, and with that he walked out of the room carefully closing the door behind him.

"I'll go and get him," said Harry after a few minutes before standing and walking off to find Ron.

"He's in your bedroom upstairs," Moody called after him.

**Ron held up his badge.**

**Mrs Weasley let out a shriek just like Hermione's.**

**'I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Oh, Ron, how wonderful! A prefect! That's everyone in the family!'**

"Oh, so Fred and I are just the next door neighbours then," scowled George.

Molly winced; she was not doing very well for herself in this chapter.

**'What are Fred and I, next-door neighbours?' said George indignantly, as his mother pushed him aside and flung her arms around her youngest son.**

**'Wait until your father hears! Ron, I'm so proud of you, what wonderful news, you could end up Head Boy just like Bill and Percy, it's the first step! Oh, what a thing to happen in the middle of all this worry, I'm just thrilled, oh, Ronnie - '**

"That doesn't mean that he will be Head Boy Molly, James wasn't a prefect before he became Head," said Sirius quietly. Molly nodded, she knew it wasn't right to put pressure like that on him, but it would be lovely if he was Head Boy as well.

**Fred and George were both making loud retching noises behind her back but Mrs Weasley did not notice;**

Molly glared at her sons who, to their credit, were beginning to look guilty.

**arms tight around Ron's neck, she was kissing him all over his face, which had turned a brighter scarlet than his badge.**  
**'Mum . . . don't . . . Mum, get a grip . . .' he muttered, trying to push her away.**

**She let go of him and said breathlessly, 'Well, what will it be? We gave Percy an owl, but you've already got one, of course.'**

"Where did he get Pigwideon from anyway?" asked Molly, she had been quiet surprised when Ron had shown up at the station with a brand new owl, but he had refused to say where he had gotten it.

"From me," said Sirius raising his hand sheepishly. "I thought that it would make a nice replacement for the scum that Ron had been carrying around with him," he added.

"Thank you, I can tell he appreciated it," smiled Molly.

**'W-what do you mean?' said Ron, looking as though he did not dare believe his ears.**

**'You've got to have a reward for this!' said Mrs Weasley fondly. 'How about a nice new set of dress robes?'**

"He's got some," muttered Fred.

**'We've already bought him some,' said Fred sourly, who looked as though he sincerely regretted this generosity.**

Molly glared at them.

"What it's not like we would have taken them back, it was part of the deal Harry made with us when he gave us the money to fund our shop," defended George.

**'Or a new cauldron, Charlie's old one's rusting through, or a new rat, you always liked Scabbers –**

"He will definitely _not_ want a new rat," said Hermione absently, her eyes on the door.

**'Mum,' said Ron hopefully, 'can I have a new broom?'**

**Mrs Weasley's face fell slightly; broomsticks were expensive.**

**'Not a really good one!' Ron hastened to add. 'Just - just a new one for a change...'**

"He's such a sweet boy," smiled Molly.

"I think that will be the best thing about it," said Ginny quietly. She had always maintained the fact that Bill was her favourite brother, he was the oldest and had always looked after her and played with her. But when Bill had gone away, not just to Hogwarts but to Egypt as well, Ron had filled in his position as her favourite. He was the brother who had stuck with her the longest, the brother who had tried to rescue her from the Chamber with a broken wand, the brother who was always able to cheer her up. So listening to the others comment about him, she had stayed silent, mostly because she didn't want to insult him further; the other reason of course was she couldn't pretend to be able to understand what he went through.

"What do you mean?" asked Bill confused.

"Well, how much of Ron's stuff is new?" she explained. Almost all of her belongings were new but Ron's, well, they were nearly all hand-me-downs. Molly and Arthur looked at the ground guiltily while the Weasley boys frowned glancing at each other as they let their sisters' question sink in. Emmeline took this as a cue to continue, the atmosphere in the room was starting to get to gloomy for her liking.

**Mrs Weasley hesitated, then smiled.**

**'Of course you can . . . well, I'd better get going if I've got a broom to buy too. I'll see you all later . . . little Ronnie, a prefect! And don't forget to pack your trunks . . . a prefect . . . oh, I'm all of a dither!'**

Molly smiled a little, the excitement of Ron being named a prefect coming back to her.

**She gave Ron yet another kiss on the cheek, sniffed loudly, and bustled from the room.**

**Fred and George exchanged looks.**

**'You don't mind if we don't kiss you, do you, Ron?' said Fred in a falsely anxious voice.**

**'We could curtsey, if you like,' said George.**

"Shut up you two," moaned Ginny while the Twins winced.

**'Oh, shut up,' said Ron, scowling at them.**

**'Or what?' said Fred, an evil grin spreading across his face. 'Going to put us in detention?'**

"Nah, I'll just sic Hermione on you," glared Ron as he and Harry walked back into the room and sat down.

**'I'd love to see him try' sniggered George.**

**'He could if you don't watch out!' said Hermione angrily.**

**Fred and George burst out laughing, and Ron muttered, 'Drop it, Hermione.'**

"Not likely," Hermione told him.

**'We're going to have to watch our step, George,' said Fred, pretending to tremble, 'with these two on our case . . .'**

"You never know, I could always write to Mrs Weasley," said Hermione scathingly.

**'Yeah, it looks like our law-breaking days are finally over,' said George, shaking his head.**

**And with another loud crack, the twins Disapparated.**

**'Those two!' said Hermione furiously, staring up at the ceiling, through which they could now hear Fred and George roaring with laughter in the room upstairs. 'Don't pay any attention to them, Ron, they're only jealous!'**

Ron snorted, "I seriously doubt that Hermione."

"Hey, what do I have to do with it?" yelled Sirius mock pouting.

Ron and Harry glanced at each other before bursting out laughing at the look on Sirius's face. Remus rolled his eyes at the age old joke while Sirius laughed along with them, which had been the point after all, to relieve some of the tension in the room.

**'I don't think they are,' said Ron doubtfully, also looking up at the ceiling. They've always said only prats become prefects . . . still,' he added on a happier note, 'they've never had new brooms! I wish I could go with Mum and choose . . . she'll never be able to afford a Nimbus, but there's the new Cleansweep out, that'd be great . . . yeah, I think I'll go and tell her I like the Cleansweep, just so she knows . . .'**

"If you remind me after the reading I'll go and get it for you," smiled Molly.

"Thanks mum," smiled Ron. Now that he had a new broom he would be able to try out for the Keeper position that was going to be open this year, thought Ron smiling.

**He dashed from the room, leaving Harry and Hermione alone.**

**For some reason, Harry found he did not want to look at Hermione. He turned to his bed, picked up the pile of clean robes Mrs Weasley had laid on it and crossed the room to his trunk.**  
**'Harry?' said Hermione tentatively.**

**'Well done, Hermione,' said Harry, so heartily it did not sound like his voice at all, and, still not looking at her, 'brilliant. Prefect. Great.'**

"See I told you I'd be jealous," whispered Harry to Ron while Ron just stared at him incredulously. He still thought it was weird that Harry of all people would be jealous of him, but Harry had just spent the last ten minutes trying to convince him, so he nodded before turning back to Emmeline.

**'Thanks,' said Hermione. 'Erm - Harry - could I borrow Hedwig so I can tell Mum and Dad? They'll be really pleased - I mean prefect is something they can understand.'**

Hermione smiled her parents would be thrilled when they found out, especially since she didn't really tell them about what she got up to during the school year, though that was mainly because they probably wouldn't let her back if they found out.

**'Yeah, no problem,' said Harry, still in the horrible hearty voice that did not belong to him. Take her!'**

**He leaned over his trunk, laid the robes on the bottom of it and pretended to be rummaging for something while Hermione crossed to the wardrobe and called Hedwig down. A few moments passed; Harry heard the door close but remained bent double, listening; the only sounds he could hear were the blank picture on the wall sniggering again and the wastepaper basket in the corner coughing up the owl droppings.**

Snape groaned, this book was actually starting to get a tiny bit interesting, and he had been content to sit there and listen, but now as Potter started to sulk again Snape couldn't help thinking he would rather kiss Black…his train of thought came to a screeching halt as he processed what he had just thought. He shuddered and almost gagged, no, he wouldn't go near Black with a ten foot pole, even if it meant he wouldn't have to listen to Potter whining.

**He straightened up and looked behind him. Hermione had left and Hedwig had gone. Harry hurried across the room, closed the door, then returned slowly to his bed and sank on to it, gazing unseeingly at the foot of the wardrobe.**

**He had forgotten completely about prefects being chosen in the fifth year. He had been too anxious about the possibility of being expelled to spare a thought for the fact that badges must be winging their way towards certain people. But if he had remembered . . . if he had thought about it . . . what would he have expected?**

"Sorry Ron," said Harry as Ron frowned, not really liking where this was going, but he knew Harry didn't mean to upset him, so he let it go and accepted his apology.

**Not this, said a small and truthful voice inside his head.**

**Harry screwed up his face and buried it in his hands. He could not lie to himself; if he had known the prefect badge was on its way, he would have expected it to come to him, not Ron. Did this make him as arrogant as Draco Malfoy? Did he think himself superior to everyone else? Did he really believe he was better than Ron?**

"No, I don't," Harry whispered firmly to his best friend. Ron smiled at him but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

**No, said the small voice defiantly.**

**Was that true? Harry wondered, anxiously probing his own feelings.**

**I'm better at Quidditch, said the voice. But I'm not better at anything else.**

**That was definitely true, Harry thought; he was no better than Ron in lessons. But what about outside lessons? What about those adventures he, Ron and Hermione had had together since starting at Hogwarts, often risking much worse than expulsion?**

**Well, Ron and Hermione were with me most of the time, said the voice in Harry's head.**

**Not all the time, though, Harry argued with himself. They didn't fight Quirrell with me.**

"I would have even got there if it wasn't for you two," Harry told them.

**They didn't take on Riddle and the Basilisk. **

"No, but Hermione, you figured everything out and you Ron, moved all of those rocks and helped me work out all the clues Hermione left and the whole thing with Aragog-" Harry said very quickly but before he could say anything else Ron cut him off, shuddering at the mention of monstrous spider that had once tried to eat them.

"You don't have to justify everything you're thinking, it's fine, really," he said rolling his eyes but feeling immensely grateful that Harry was trying to anyway.

**They didn't get rid of all those Dementors the night Sirius escaped. They weren't in that graveyard with me, the night Voldemort returned . . .**

**And the same feeling of ill-usage that had overwhelmed him on the night he had arrived rose again. I've definitely done more, Harry thought indignantly. I've done more than either of them!**

"Only because something either happens to you or we are separated," said Harry quietly. Hermione and Ron pulled Harry into a group hug trying to convey all of their feelings and emotions in a small moment of contact before separating and blushing slightly as the room stared at them, once again amazed at the friendship the trio shared.

**But maybe, said the small voice fairly, maybe Dumbledore doesn't choose prefects because they've got themselves into a load of dangerous situations . . . maybe he chooses them for other reasons . . . Ron must have something you don't . . .**

"We all have different qualities from one another Harry that does not mean that one is better than another," said Dumbledore kindly as Harry flushed and nodded, once again cursing his future self for coming up with these stupid books.

**Harry opened his eyes and stared through his fingers at the wardrobe's clawed feet, remembering what. Fred had said: 'No one in their right mind would make Ron a prefect . . .'**

**Harry gave a small snort of laughter. A second later he felt sickened with himself.**

Ron smiled a bit at that, glad that Harry wouldn't make fun of him behind his back.

**Ron had not asked Dumbledore to give him the prefect badge. This was not Ron's fault. Was he, Harry, Ron's best friend in the world, going to sulk because he didn't, have a badge, laugh with the twins behind Ron's back, ruin this for Ron when, for the first time, he had beaten Harry at something?**

"No, you deserve it, congratulations Ron," Harry grinned at him.

**At this point Harry heard Ron's footsteps on the stairs again. He stood up, straightened his glasses, and hitched a grin on to his face as Ron bounded back through the door.**

**'Just caught her!' he said happily. 'She says she'll get the Cleansweep if she can.'**

**'Cool,' Harry said, and he was relieved to hear that his voice had stopped sounding hearty. 'Listen - Ron - well done, mate.'**  
**The smile faded off Ron's face.**

"Here come those stupid insecurities again," muttered Ron to Harry quietly enough that only Remus could hear them.

"They're not stupid, just something you have to work at," Harry told him as Remus smiled at their conversation.

**'I never thought it would be me!' he said, shaking his head. 'I thought it would be you!'**

**'Nah, I've caused too much trouble,' Harry said, echoing Fred.**

**'Yeah,' said Ron, 'yeah, I suppose . . . well, we'd better get our trunks packed, hadn't we?'**

**It was odd how widely their possessions seemed to have scattered themselves since they had arrived. It took them most of the afternoon to retrieve their books and belongings from all over the house and stow them back inside their school trunks. Harry noticed that Ron kept moving his prefect's badge around, first placing it on his bedside table, then putting it into his jeans pocket, then taking it out and lying it on his folded robes, as though to see the effect of the red on the black. **

"Oh god," groaned Ron as the others laughed.

**Only when Fred and George dropped in and offered to attach it to his forehead with a Permanent Sticking Charm did he wrap it tenderly in his maroon socks and lock it in his trunk.**

"You're not touching it," muttered Ron fiercely, there was no way in hell that he was going to let the Twins get a hold of his badge, Merlin knows what it would come back saying.

**Mrs Weasley returned from Diagon Alley around six o'clock, laden with books and carrying a long package wrapped in thick brown paper that Ron took from her with a moan of longing.**

"Do you reckon he'll do that with Hermione," giggled Ginny in Harry's ear.

"I did not need that image in my head thanks Ginny," gagged Harry while Ginny giggled again.

**'Never mind unwrapping it now, people are arriving for dinner, I want you all downstairs,' she said, but the moment she was out of sight Ron ripped off the paper in a frenzy and examined every inch of his new broom, an ecstatic expression on his face.**

Molly rolled her eyes; she probably knew he was going to do that anyway, still, at least he waited until she had left.

**Down in the basement Mrs Weasley had hung a scarlet banner over the heavily laden dinner table, which read:**

_** CONGRATULATIONS**__  
__** RON AND HERMIONE**__  
__** NEW PREFECTS**_

"Thank you Mum/Mrs Weasley," said Ron and Hermione at the same time grinning.

"It's no problem dears, you both deserve it," said Molly.

**She looked in a better mood than Harry had seen her all holiday.**

**'I thought we'd have a little party not a sit-down dinner,' she told Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny as they entered the room. **

The boys as well as Ginny cheered while Hermione rolled her eyes, but smiled at the thought of a party.

**'Your father and Bill are on their way, Ron. I've sent them both owls and they're thrilled,' she added, beaming.**

**Fred rolled his eyes.**

Fred dodged the pillow Ron threw at him and smirked, only to be hit in the face with the second pillow Ginny had thrown.

**Sirius, Lupin, Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt were already there and Mad-Eye Moody stumped in shortly after Harry had got himself a Butterbeer.**

**'Oh, Alastor, I am glad you're here,' said Mrs Weasley brightly, as Mad-Eye shrugged off his travelling cloak. 'We've been wanting to ask you for ages - could you have a look in the writing desk in the drawing room and tell us what's inside it? We haven't wanted to open it. just in case it's something really nasty.'**

"It's empty now," Moody said, his magical eyes fixed on the desk.

**'No problem, Molly . . .'** **Moody's electric-blue eye swivelled upwards and stared fixedly through the ceiling of the kitchen.**

**Drawing room . . .' he growled, as the pupil contracted. 'Desk in the corner? Yeah, I see it . . . yeah, it's a Boggart . . . want me to go up and get rid of it, Molly?'**

"What do they look like?" asked Tonks.

"Lumpy grey worm," Moody answered shrugging.

**No, no, I'll do it myself later,' beamed Mrs Weasley, 'you have your drink. We're having a little bit of a celebration, actually . . .' She gestured at the scarlet banner. 'Fourth prefect in the family!' she said fondly, ruffling Ron's hair.**

**'Prefect, eh?' growled Moody, his normal eye on Ron and his magical eye swivelling around to gaze into the side of his head. Harry had the very uncomfortable feeling it was looking at him and moved away towards Sirius and Lupin.**

"Probably figured Dumbledore had his reasons for not making Potter a prefect," said Moody simply.

**'Well, congratulations,' said Moody, still glaring at Ron with his normal eye, 'authority figures always attract trouble, but I suppose Dumbledore thinks you can withstand most major jinxes or he wouldn't have appointed you . . .'**

"You are quite powerful yes," said Dumbledore pleasantly as Ron's ears turned red. "I think you will find Mr Weasley that you are sitting quite comfortably in seventh position, closely following Harry, who is sixth in the top ten percentage of your year," he added as Ron visibly blanched.

"Oh, we're so proud of you," gushed Molly while Ron sat stunned.

**Ron looked rather startled at this view of the matter but was saved the trouble of responding by the arrival of his father and eldest brother. Mrs Weasley was in such a good mood she did not even complain that they had brought Mundungus with them;**

Molly muttered something that even Remus wasn't able to hear.

**he was wearing a long overcoat that seemed oddly lumpy in unlikely places and declined the offer to remove it and put it with Moody's travelling cloak.**

**'Well, I think a toast is in order,' said Mr Weasley, when everyone had a drink. He raised his goblet. 'To Ron and Hermione, the new Gryffindor prefects!'**

The room cheered while Ron and Hermione blushed.

**Ron and Hermione beamed as everyone drank to them, and then applauded.**

**'I was never a prefect myself,' said Tonks brightly from behind Harry as everybody moved towards the table to help themselves to food. Her hair was tomato red and waist-length today; she looked like Ginny's older sister. 'My Head of House said I lacked certain necessary qualities.'**

Sirius snorted, he could tell where this was going.

**'Like what?' said Ginny, who was choosing a baked potato.**

**'Like the ability to behave myself,' said Tonks.**

**Ginny laughed; Hermione looked as though she did not know whether to smile or not and compromised by taking an extra-large gulp of Butterbeer and choking on it.**

"Smooth," laughed Ron, now in a much better mood.

**'What about you, Sirius?' Ginny asked, thumping Hermione on the back.**

"Pfft, the school would have burnt to the ground if Padfoot had have been a prefect," laughed Remus as Sirius punched him in the shoulder and mock pouted.

**Sirius, who was right beside Harry, let out his usual bark-like laugh.**

**'No one would have made me a prefect, I spent too much time in detention with James. Lupin was the good boy, he got the badge.'**

**'I think Dumbledore might have hoped I would be able to exercise some control over my best friends,' said Lupin. 'I need scarcely say that I failed dismally.'**

"Aw, you weren't that bad, you still gave us detention for stuff, and gave us a nice long lecture when we did something stupid," said Sirius patting Remus on the shoulder pretending to console him. Remus slapped him on the back of his head and rolled his eyes.

**Harry's mood suddenly lifted. His father had not been a prefect either. All at once the party seemed much more enjoyable; he loaded up his plate, feeling doubly fond of everyone in the room.**

"Well, I knew he was Head Boy, so I figured he was a prefect as well, which was probably the reason I was so upset," reasoned Harry.

**Ron was rhapsodising about his new broom to anybody who would listen.**

**'. . . nought to seventy in ten seconds, not bad, is it? When you think the Comet Two Ninety's only nought to sixty and that's with a decent tailwind according to Which Broomstick?'**

Kingsley chuckled thinking of how enthusiastic Tonks would be in that conversation, she loved to talk about anything to do with Quidditch, especially the brooms.

**Hermione was talking very earnestly to Lupin about her view of elf rights.**

**'I mean, it's the same kind of nonsense as werewolf segregation, isn't it? It all stems from this horrible thing wizards have of thinking they're superior to other creatures…'**

"Err, not exactly," said Remus slightly uncomfortable. There was also the fact that werewolves were much more dangerous than House Elves, and many of them liked to live alone while while the Elves where always unnaturally happy and bright.

**Mrs Weasley and Bill were having their usual argument about Bill's hair.**

**'. . . getting really out of hand, and you're so good-looking, it would look much better shorter, wouldn't it, Harry?'**

**Oh - I dunno - ' said Harry, slightly alarmed at being asked his opinion; **

"See, there it is again, the neutral response," commented Sirius. "You're really good at it Harry," he added.

"Err- thanks?" said Harry trying to not sound like he was asking a question.

"I still don't believe that it is a real thing Sirius," said Tonks, but Emmeline started to read again before Sirius could answer.

**he slid away from them in the direction of Fred and George, who were huddled in a corner with Mundungus.**

"And just what are you doing?" glared Molly.

"Dunno, it's in the future," joked Fred.

**Mundungus stopped talking when he saw Harry, but Fred winked and beckoned Harry closer.**

**'It's OK,' he told Mundungus, 'we can trust Harry, he's our financial backer.'**

**'Look what Dung's got us,' said George, holding out his hand to Harry. It was full of what looked like shrivelled black pods. **

"That sounds like Venomous Tentacula seeds," said Kinsgley frowning. "You'll be in a lot of trouble if you're found trading them," he warned the Twins who nodded sheepishly.

**A faint rattling noise was coming from them, even though they were completely stationary.**

**'Venomous Tentacula seeds,' said George. 'We need them for the Skiving Snackboxes but they're a Class C Non-Tradeable Substance so we've been having a bit of trouble getting hold of them.'**

"I would like to think so," growled Molly, she was going to be having words again with Mundungus Fletcher.

**'Ten Galleons the lot, then, Dung?' said Fred.**

**'Wiv all the trouble I went to to get 'em?' said Mundungus, his saggy, bloodshot eyes stretching even wider. 'I'm sorry, lads, but I'm not taking a Knut under twenty.'**

**'Dung likes his little joke,' Fred said to Harry.**

**'Yeah, his best one so far has been six Sickles for a bag of Knarl quills,' said George.**

**'Be careful,' Harry warned them quietly.**

"Why, Mum's not watching," said Fred.

**'What?' said Fred. 'Mum's busy cooing over Prefect Ron, we're OK.'**

**'But Moody could have his eye on you.' Harry pointed out.**

"Oh," blushed Fred, he had forgotten about Mad-Eye.

**Mundungus looked nervously over his shoulder.**

**'Good point, that,' he grunted. 'All right, lads, ten it is, if you'll take 'em quick.'**

"Wow Harry, we should get you in on deals more often," exclaimed Fred.

"I'm right," laughed Harry.

**'Cheers, Harry!' said Fred delightedly, when Mundungus had emptied his pockets into the twins' outstretched hands and scuttled off towards the food. 'We'd better get these upstairs . . .'** **Harry watched them go, feeling slightly uneasy. It had just occurred to him that Mr and Mrs Weasley would want to know how Fred and George were financing their joke shop business when, as was inevitable, they finally found out about it.**

"Which you did," mumbled Harry as Arthur and Molly chuckled at the look on his face.

**Giving the twins his Triwizard winnings had seemed a simple thing to do at the time, but what if it led to another family row and a Percy-like estrangement? Would Mrs Weasley still feel that Harry was as good as her son if she found out he had made it possible for Fred and George to start a career she thought quite unsuitable?**

"Yes, Harry of course I'll still think of you as a son" smiled Molly kindly.

**Standing where the twins had left him, with nothing but a guilty weight in the pit of his stomach for company, Harry caught the sound of his own name. Kingsley Shacklebolts deep voice was audible even over the surrounding chatter.**

**'. . . why Dumbledore didn't make Potter a prefect?' said Kingsley.**

"Sorry Ron," said Kingsley embarrassed.

"It's fine, you're just curious," said Ron waving him off, his bad mood from earlier forgotten.

**'He'll have had his reasons,' replied Lupin.**

**'But it would've shown confidence in him. It's what I'd've done,' persisted Kingsley, ' 'specially with the Daily Prophet having a go at him every few days . . .'**

_Yes, but it's not Harry that needs the confidence_ thought Dumbledore as he looked at Ron who was laughing at something Hermione had said.

**Harry did not look round; he did not want Lupin or Kingsley to know he had heard. Though not remotely hungry, he followed Mundungus back towards the table. His pleasure in the party had evaporated as quickly as it had come; he wished he were upstairs in bed.**

"Are you sure you're not bipolar?" laughed Hermione, confusing most of the wizards in the room except Ron who had heard Hermione asked Harry that question before. Harry on the other hand, pouted and stuck his tongue out at her.

**Mad-Eye Moody was sniffing at a chicken-leg with what remained of his nose; evidently he could not detect any trace of poison, because he then tore a strip off it with his teeth.**

**'. . . the handle's made of Spanish oak with anti-jinx varnish and in-built vibration control - ' Ron was saying to Tonks.**

The Twins snickered as Ron's ears turned red again.

**Mrs Weasley yawned widely.** **'Well, I think I'll sort out that Boggart before I turn in . . . Arthur, I don't want this lot up too late, all right? Night, Harry, dear.'**

**She left the kitchen. Harry set down his plate and wondered whether he could follow her without attracting attention.**

"I doubt it," muttered Moody.

**'You all right, Potter?' grunted Moody.**

Moody smiled ever so slightly to himself.

**'Yeah, fine,' lied Harry.**

**Moody took a swig from his hipflask, his electric-blue eye staring sideways at Harry.**

**'Come here, I've got something that might interest you,' he said.**

**From an inner pocket of his robes Moody pulled a very tattered old wizarding photograph.**

**'Original Order of the Phoenix,' growled Moody.**

"Don't show him that!" cried Sirius.

"Why not?" asked Harry.

"Because it is completely depressing and most of the people in that photograph are dead, have defected or are out of action," said Sirius thinking of his friends from the first war.

**'Found it last night when I was looking for my spare Invisibility Cloak, seeing as Podmore hasn't had the manners to return my best one . . . thought people might like to see it.'**

**Harry took the photograph. A small crowd of people, some waving at him, others lifting their glasses, looked back up at him.**

**'There's me,' said Moody, unnecessarily pointing at himself. The Moody in the picture was unmistakeable, though his hair was slightly less grey and his nose was intact. 'And there's Dumbledore beside me, Dedalus Diggle on the other side . . . that's Marlene McKinnon, she was killed two weeks after this was taken, they got her whole family.**

Sirius flinched and Emmeline's eyes watered at the name of their friend. The Order had always been a tight nit group and they were all friends, but Marlene had been special to both of them. She had been Emmeline's best friend throughout Hogwarts and Sirius had dated her on-and-off during their last two years. In fact Marlene had been the one to set them up just months before she had died.

**That's Frank and Alice Longbottom - '**

**Harry's stomach, already uncomfortable, clenched as he looked at Alice Longbottom; he knew her round, friendly face very well, even though he had never met her, because she was the image of her son, Neville.**

Hermione and Ginny gasped and Ron's eyes widened.

**' - poor devils,' growled Moody. 'Better dead than what happened to them . . . **

"Do you know what happened to them?" asked Hermione quietly. Harry nodded but didn't explain further, knowing his luck it would come up again later in the book.

**and that's Emmeline Vance, you've met her, and that there's Lupin, obviously . . . Benjy Fenwick, he copped it too, we only ever found bits of him . . . shift aside there,' he added, poking the picture, and the little photographic people edged sideways, so that those who were partially obscured could move to the front.**

**'That's Edgar Bones . . . brother of Amelia Bones,**

"Are they Susan's relatives?" asked Hermione.

"Her Aunt and Uncle," said Arthur smiling sadly. He had been good friends with Edgar and his family and had been devastated when they had been killed.

**they got him and his family, too, he was a great wizard . . . Sturgis Podmore, blimey, he looks young . . . Caradoc Dearborn, vanished six months after this, we never found his body . . . Hagrid, of course, looks exactly the same as ever . . . Elphias Doge, you've met him, I'd forgotten he used to wear that stupid hat . . . Gideon Prewett, it took five Death Eaters to kill him and his brother Fabian, they fought like heroes**

Molly smiled a watery smile at the mention of her brothers. She looked down at the Twins and smiled a little wider, she knew what Sirius was talking about when he said he saw James in Harry, she knew because she saw her brothers in her sons and she would be forever grateful for the fact that there was still some connection between them.

**. . . budge along, budge along . . .'**

**The little people in the photograph jostled among themselves and those hidden right at the back appeared at the forefront of the picture.**

**That's Dumbledore's brother Aberforth, only time I ever met him, strange bloke . . . that's Dorcas Meadowes, Voldemort killed her personally . . . Sirius, when he still had short hair**

"It wasn't that much shorter," said Sirius running his fingers through his messy locks.

"It was a good three inches shorter," Remus told him.

"And it will be that length again when I'm finished with it," added Molly as Sirius winced, he hated haircuts, but then, he supposed, it _would_ be more manageable.

**. . . and . . . there you go, thought that would interest you!'**

**Harry's heart turned over. His mother and father were beaming up at him, sitting on either side of a small, watery-eyed man whom Harry recognised at once as Wormtail, the one who had betrayed his parents' whereabouts to Voldemort and so helped to bring about their deaths.**

Harry, Sirius and Remus glared at the book.

**'Eh?' said Moody.**

**Harry looked up into Moody s heavily scarred and pitted face. Evidently Moody was under the impression he had just given Harry a bit of a treat.**

**'Yeah,' said Harry, once again attempting to grin. 'Er . . . listen, I've just remembered, I haven't packed my . . .'**

**He was spared the trouble of inventing an object he had not packed. Sirius had just said, 'What's that you've got there, Mad-Eye?' and Moody had turned towards him. **

"Thanks Sirius," whispered Harry behind him.

"No problem Pup," said Sirius ruffling Harry hair, making it messier than before.

**Harry crossed the kitchen, slipped through the door and up the stairs before anyone could call him back.**

**He did not know why it had been such a shock; he had seen pictures of his parents before, after all, and he had met Wormtail . . . but to have them sprung on him like that, when he was least expecting it . . . no one would like that, he thought angrily…**

"Sorry Potter," grumbled Moody, but Harry waved him off, he knew why Moody had shown him. To make sure that Harry knew what he was going to be getting into and preparing him for what some of the consequences could be, when he did eventually become more involved with the Order and by extension, the war, as he knew that Moody knew he would.

**And then, to see them surrounded by all those other happy faces . . . Benjy Fenwick, who had been found in bits, and Gideon Prewett, who had died like a hero, and the Longbottoms, who had been tortured into madness . . . all waving happily out of the photograph forever more, not knowing that they were doomed . . . well, Moody might find that interesting . . . he, Harry, found it disturbing . . .**

Snape, for once, was in agreement with Harry, he felt that every time he saw a picture of Lily, frozen in time staring at him smiling his favourite smile that he knew he didn't deserve after what he did to her.

**Harry tiptoed up the stairs in the hall past the stuffed elf-heads, glad to be on his own again, but as he approached the first landing he heard noises. Someone was sobbing in the drawing room.**

Molly stiffened, hadn't she gone upstairs just moments before?

**'Hello?' Harry said.**

**There was no answer but the sobbing continued. He climbed the remaining stairs two at a time, walked across the landing and opened the drawing-room door.**

**Someone was cowering against the dark wall, her wand in her hand, her whole body shaking with sobs. Sprawled on the dusty old carpet in a patch of moonlight, clearly dead, was Ron.**

"WHAT?" cried the room in shock.

**All the air seemed to vanish from Harry's lungs; he felt as though he were falling through the floor; his brain turned icy cold - Ron dead, **

"What is going on?" cried Ginny as she stared at her older brother in horror.

**no, it couldn't be - '**

**But wait a moment, it couldn't be - Ron was downstairs – **

"Oh, thank Merlin," cried Molly relieved. Emmeline, who had once again glanced ahead read faster, not wanting to dwindle on the images the book brought to the forefront of her mind.

**'Mrs Weasley?' Harry croaked.**

**'R - r - riddikulus!' Mrs Weasley sobbed, pointing her shaking wand at Ron's body.**

**Crack,** **Ron's body turned into Bill's, spread-eagled on his back, his eyes wide open and empty. Mrs Weasley sobbed harder than ever.**

**'R - riddikulus!' she sobbed again.** **Crack.** **Mr Weasley's body replaced Bill's, his glasses askew, a trickle of blood running down his face.**

**'No!' Mrs Weasley moaned. 'No . . . riddikulus! Riddikulus! RID-DIKULUS!'** **Crack. Dead twins. Crack. Dead Percy. Crack. Dead Harry . . .**

Molly flinched as every one of her sons were mentioned; she was terrified that she was going to lose one of them and now _Ron_ had come from the future she was even more terrified because even though he had tried to hide it, she had seen the haunted look in his eyes and she knew they had lost someone from their family, she just didn't want to admit it.

**'Mrs Weasley, just get out of here!' shouted Harry, staring down at his own dead body on the floor. 'Let someone else - '**

**'What's going on?'**

**Lupin had come running into the room, closely followed by Sirius, with Moody stumping along behind them. Lupin looked from Mrs Weasley to the dead Harry on the floor and seemed to understand in an instant. Pulling out his own wand, he said, very firmly and clearly:**

**'Riddikulus!'**

**Harry's body vanished. A silvery orb hung in the air over the spot where it had lain. **

"The moon?" asked Tonks quietly and Remus nodded.

**Lupin waved his wand once more and the orb vanished in a puff of smoke.**

**'Oh - oh - oh!' gulped Mrs Weasley, and she broke into a storm of crying, her face in her hands.**

**'Molly' said Lupin bleakly, walking over to her. 'Molly don't . . .'**

**Next second, she was sobbing her heart out on Lupin's shoulder.**

"You always were good at that," Sirius joked half-heartedly to Remus who's mouth twitched.

**'Molly it was just a Boggart,' he said soothingly, patting her on the head. 'Just a stupid Boggart . , .'**

**'I see them d - d - dead all the time!' Mrs Weasley moaned into his shoulder. 'All the t - t - time! I d - d - dream about it . . .'**

**Sirius was staring at the patch of carpet where the Boggart, pretending to be Harry's body, had lain.**

Sirius shuddered and Harry pressed his back against his godfather's legs again before turning and squeezing his hand.

**Moody was looking at Harry, who avoided his gaze. He had a funny feeling Moody's magical eye had followed him all the way out of the kitchen.**

**'D - d - don't tell Arthur,' Mrs Weasley was gulping now, mopping her eyes frantically with her cuffs. 'I d - d - don't want him to know . . . being silly . . .'**

"Well it's silly that you don't want to tell me," Arthur chided his wife softly.

"I didn't want you to worry," she whispered looking at her hands.

"How can I help you if you don't tell me, we're partners Molly, together forever remember? You have to tell me stuff like this," Arthur whispered back.

**Lupin handed her a handkerchief and she blew her nose.**

**'Harry, I'm so sorry. What must you think of me?' she said shakily. 'Not even able to get rid of a Boggart . . .'**

**'Don't be stupid,' said Harry, trying to smile.**

**'I'm just s - s - so worried,' she said, tears spilling out of her eyes again. 'Half the f - f - family's in the Order, it'll b - b - be a miracle if we all come through this . . . and P - P - Percy's not talking to us . . . what if something d-d - dreadful happens and we've never m - m - made it up with him? **

Molly whimpered at the thought.

**And what's going to happen if Arthur and I get killed, who's g - g - going to look after Ron and Ginny?'**

"We will," said Sirius firmly as Remus, Tonks and Emmeline nodded.

**'Molly, that's enough,' said Lupin firmly. This isn't like last time. The Order are better prepared, we've got a head start, we know what Voldemort's up to - '**

**Mrs Weasley gave a little squeak of fright at the sound of the name.**

**'Oh, Molly, come on, it's about time you got used to hearing his name - look, I can't promise no one's going to get hurt, nobody can promise that, but we're much better off than we were last time. You weren't in the Order then, you don't understand. Last time we were outnumbered twenty to one by the Death Eaters and they were picking us off one by one . . .'**

"That was terrifying," whispered Emmeline shivering. Sirius nodded looking at her sadly before tentatively placing his arm around her shoulders. She smile slightly and leaned into the warmth of his body before going back to reading.

**Harry thought of the photograph again, of his parents' beaming faces. He knew Moody was still watching him.**

**'Don't worry about Percy,' said Sirius abruptly. 'He'll come round. It's only a matter of time before Voldemort moves into the open; once he does, the whole Ministry's going to be begging us to forgive them. And I'm not sure I'll be accepting their apology,' he added bitterly.**

"Well, that depends on how much apologising they do," Sirius amended.

"What would you want them to do in order for you to accept?" asked Fred.

"Dunno yet, but it will be a lot," smirked Sirius as George grinned at him.

**'And as for who's going to look after Ron and Ginny if you and Arthur died,' said Lupin, smiling slightly, 'what do you think we'd do, let them starve?'**

"Well, they might get food poisoning if they eat anything I cook, but Remus can do that," said Sirius cheerfully as Molly smiled gratefully at him.

"Thank you," she said looking at Sirius, "both of you," she added shifting her gaze to Remus.

**Mrs Weasley smiled tremulously.**

**'Being silly,' she muttered again, mopping her eyes.**

**But Harry, closing his bedroom door behind him some ten minutes later, could not think Mrs Weasley silly. He could still see his parents beaming up at him from the battered old photograph, unaware that their lives, like so many of those around them, were drawing to a close. **

"Harry's right, it's not silly for you to be worried about your family," said Remus kindly as Sirius and a few others nodded.

**The image of the Boggart posing as the corpse of each member of Mrs Weasley's family in turn kept flashing before his eyes.**

**Without warning, the scar on his forehead seared with pain again and his stomach churned horribly.**

"Is it going to keep doing that?" asked Harry absently rubbing the old scar on his forehead.

"Unfortunately, from what I can tell you will be feeling it a lot more often now that Voldemort has a body," Dumbledore told Harry's chin gravely.

**'Cut it out,' he said firmly, rubbing the scar as the pain receded.**

**'First sign of madness, talking to your own head,' said a sly voice from the empty picture on the wall.**

**Harry ignored it. He felt older than he had ever felt in his life and it seemed extraordinary to him that barely an hour ago he had been worried about a joke shop and who had got a prefects badge.**

"That's the end of the chapter," said Emmeline closing the book.

Snape suddenly lurched forward in his seat, pain coursing through the mark on his left arm.

The Dark Lord was calling him.

"Severus?" questioned Dumbledore as he looked at the younger man. Snape sat back up and rubbed his arm.

"I have to go," he said standing abruptly, not meeting anyone's eyes. Dumbledore nodded but Snape gave no indication he had seen, instead walking right out the door without a backwards glance. The Order had some idea of where he was going, but nobody wanted to say it out loud, even Sirius felt slightly bad for Snape having to deal with Voldemort.

"What was that about?" asked Ginny after five minutes of silence.

"I suspect he was summoned by old Snakeface," came a voice from the door. _Harry_ and _Ron_ walked into the room both looking a little worse for wear, but not many people were looking at them, they were looking at the blond girl who had followed them in.

"Luna?" asked Ginny.


	14. Exit Stage Left, Enter Stage Right

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling. Okay so this chapter isn't actually a reading chapter but it is a bit of plot and an explanation of how Luna got there. Last time i posted this heaps of people wanted me to bring in Neville as well but at the moment i don't have a legitamite reason to bring him in but hopefully it'll come to me by the time i get to the next book.**

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Earlier that morning:

"Where are we?" asked Harry as he lay on the ground next to Ron. He could see the trees that surrounded them stretching towards the bright blue sky. He could feel the leaves under his body, wet and sticky from what must have been resent rain fall. He could hear the sound of the babbling stream that was flowing steadily somewhere to his left; he could hear the sound of his and Ron's heavy breathing as they tried to catch their breath. Harry took this as a good sign, after all if all of his senses were working he couldn't be dead right?

"In the forest, a few miles south-west of the Burrow," said Ron letting out a long breath. "How's your head?" he added shifting his head slightly to look at Harry.

Harry's head throbbed as he tried to remember what had happen. They had taken out the first two Death Eaters quickly but unfortunately, it had not been silently, which in turn caught the attention of a dozen others. He couldn't really remember the rest of the battle; he knew that it was long; after all it had been around six when they had left Grimmauld, and now it felt like lunch time. He remembered duelling Lucius Malfoy and had had the satisfaction of head-butting him in the face at one point, but what had happened next?

"Like I got hit by a bludger, what happened?" said Harry as he turned his head to face Ron before wincing in pain.

"When you were duelling Malfoy, one of his buddies got the drop on you and hit you with a bludgeoning hex from behind, bloody bastard," swore Ron.

Now Harry remembered, he had been trying to stop Lucius from calling in reinforcements when the spell hit him. He had made it over to Ron but couldn't concentrate enough to apparate, so Ron must have side-longed him.

"Thanks," said Harry, he paused looking at the canopy above them before adding, "Mad-Eye would kill us if he saw us at the moment." Ron laughed before helping Harry to sit up.

"Yeah, but we'll only be here for a few minutes," he tried to reason.

"But you'll have to change my appearance back so you can fix the back of my head," replied Harry frowning. Five minutes, and a couple of muffling charms later, Harry was looking his normal self and Ron was closing the wound on the back of his head. When Ron was finished Harry turned around and lightly pressed his fingers into the tender flesh.

"You're lucky you don't have a concussion," said Ron, vanishing the now red rag he had used to soak up some of the blood from Harry's head, but before Harry could reply;

"You're Harry Potter," came a dreamy voice from across the stream. Harry and Ron gasped before spinning to face the newcomer, all the while positioning their wands for immediate use. The girl had long blonde hair, grey-blue eyes and radishes hanging from her ears. Harry smiled slightly but was hesitant to lower his wand.

"Luna," he breathed, "how did you get through the wards?" he asked, the real Luna wouldn't have been able to.

"I was already here when you made them," she stated, her eyes drifting towards the tree tops and back.

"Then why didn't we see you?" asked Ron exchanging a glance with Harry.

"I was looking for Crumple-Horned Snorlack's in that tree over there, they like to hide in high places you know," she told them. Ron snorted and lowered his wand, it was definitely Luna.

Harry smiled and lowered his wand as well,

"No Luna I didn't know that," laughed Harry.

* * *

Present:

"Hello Ginny," said Luna dreamily as Ginny hugged her.

"What are you doing here?" asked Ginny moving back to look at her.

"_Harry_ and _Ron_ thought I might like to listen to some stories," stated Luna, moving further into the room, "I knew there was something different about you," she told _Ron_ looking at his younger self. _Ron _laughed and nodded indicating for her to sit down.

"It was nice of you to tell us you were bringing in a civilian, how do we know we can trust her?" grumbled Moody, his magical eye fixed on Luna who was now seated next to Fred, while his other eyes was on _Harry_.

"She's the Weasley's neighbour, and a great friend of ours," _Harry _told him.

"I don't know her," said Harry looking at Luna's vacant expression like he was trying to decide if she was all there or not.

"We meet her this year," _Harry_ told himself.

Dumbledore hadn't said anything since the trio had arrived, his mind preoccupied with Severus's sudden departure. He wasn't exactly worried about Miss Lovegood considering it had been _Harry _who had brought her here, so he decided that she must be a valuable asset and friend to Harry in the future. "I would like to welcome you, Miss Lovegood to our little reading session, I hope your father won't be too worried about you," he said. Luna looked at him and blinked, but didn't seem to find it to odd that the Headmaster was addressing her.

"My father knows I'm here, Professor Dumbledore, not that I really know where I am, the Wrackspurts are making everything fuzzy.

"How can she be here and not know where she is?" asked Bill.

"What's a Wrackspurt?" asked Remus and Sirius at the same time.

"It's kind of a long story," said _Harry_ trying not to get blood on the carpet. "But the gist of it is, she knows what building she is in and about the Order of the Phoenix, but she doesn't know where we are exactly, if that makes sense," he said addressing Remus then he turned to Sirius and added "I'm pretty sure it gets brought up in the book," Sirius pouted but nodded settling back into his seat.

In the excitement of the arrival of Luna, Molly had almost missed the state of the two young men. Ron's sleeve was slashed and he had blood running down his arm, soaking into the dark robes he was wearing, there were a couple of scorch marks on his pants and he had scratches all over his face. Harry on the other hand, had blood running down the back of his neck and a gash on his left bicep. His face was also covered in scratches as well as dirt.

"What on earth have you two been doing?" cried Molly as the others turned to look at the three of them.

"Err, we may have gotten into a fight while we were checking out a lead this morning," mumbled _Ron_, not really wanting to face the wrath of his mother just after a fight with Death Eaters.

"Take your shirts off now," Molly commanded. _Harry _and _Ron_ glanced at each other before hesitantly doing as they were told. There was a collective gasp around the room, as the shirts landed on the coffee table. _Harry_ and _Ron_ shifted under the scrutinising gaze of Molly as her eyes, as well as those of the rest of the room, travelled over their bodies, wordlessly counting each scar that marred their skin. Her eyes seemed to linger on the largest scar on Ron's torso, which he had gotten when they had fled the Ministry. Molly was too shocked at the state of her son and the boy she considered to be a son to say anything. What did one say to your future son who was covered in scars that you were probably going to reading about in a book, she didn't have a clue, so instead she stepped forward and took hold of her son's right forearm examining the cut on his shoulder. Biting back her anxiety at seeing the state of her son, Molly frowned as she cleaned the wound,

"You'll need to put some healing salve on it, but it shouldn't scar, thank Merlin, you already have enough of those by the looks of it. Her eyes drifted down to _Ron's_ hands as she moved back to treat _Harry_, but something caught her eye.

"Ronald Weasley, what is that," shrieked Molly as she stared at the mark on his right wrist.

"Figures she would freak out about the tattoo," _Ron_ mumbled to _Harry_.

"What are you complaining about, you only have one," _Harry_ muttered back.

"Well?" prompted Molly.

_Ron_ gulped and looked down at the tattoo he had gotten a year ago. He had never really liked the idea of a tattoo, but this one was different, it wasn't big and flashy, it fact it was only a few inches big and relatively simple. It was made up of three rings that were intertwined with each other, representing the 'Golden Trio', then below that was the numbers 020598 obviously standing for the date of the Battle of Hogwarts.

"It's a reminder," he said finally, not looking at his mother, instead glancing around the room at the faces that were staring at him, he smirked when he saw Hermione trying to hide her blush.

"A reminder?" asked Arthur, not really sure if he should approve or not.

"He means, that it's a sort of commemorative thing that a lot of people did after the war ended," said _Harry_ as Sirius's and Remus's gaze shifted to him. When he said a lot of people, he meant most of the Order and Dumbledore's Army, only instead of the rings; they either had a phoenix or DA above the date.

"So it would be safe to guess that you have one as well," stated Remus raising an eyebrow.

"Define one," said _Harry_ smiling innocently.

"Singular," glared Molly.

"Harry got into a whole honouring people kind of faze a couple of months after the war," explained _Ron_ as _Harry_ turned around. Sirius and Remus stood from where they had been sitting and moved towards _Harry_, trying to get a better look at the shield that now adorned his left shoulder blade.

Sirius had to hold back tears as he looked at it. The shield was split into four panels and each panel held an animal. In the first panel was filled in with black ink, but a proud looking stag stood facing the centre. Sirius's eyes moved to the next one and nearly gasped when he saw it, this panel was clear and a large shaggy black dog was inked in the middle. The bottom left panel was also clear but instead of a dog, there was a black wolf howling at a non-existent moon. And finally in the last panel, which was also filled in, stood an elegant doe, also facing the centre. Sirius's eyes travel further down the design to the script that was written at the bottom, the tear's escaping as he read the words 'Mischief Managed'.

"Do they mean anything?" asked Remus as he wiped a tear off his cheek and _Harry_ turned around.

"Friendship, Loyalty, Courage and Love," said _Harry_ quietly. It had taken him a lot of time to work out what he wanted the tattoo to look like, the final design, he had realised was surprisingly simple, but had a lot of meaning behind it. Some of the meanings were simple such as that of the stag, Harry's father had valued the friendship he had formed between himself and the other Marauders, and as Remus had once told him, James had believed it the greatest dishonour to mistrust a friend. Padfoot, on the other hand symbolised the loyalty he showed to his friends and the little of the family he liked, these two pictures were the straight forward ones.

The last two, on the other hand, were much more complex. Moony stood for courage, but the wolf in the picture didn't just stand for Remus, it was a representation of Tonks as well, who had had the courage to hold onto Remus no matter what he did, or how many times he tried to leave her. The doe stood for love, but it too had a double meaning, and a double representation. The first and most obvious was of his mother who's love had saved his life time and time again and represented those who Lily Potter had loved. The second meaning however, he had never really told anyone, other than _Ron_ and_ Hermione_ what it was. The second person was Snape and what love had driven him to do and that he, like Lily had died protecting Harry from Voldemort.

"So where are we up to?" asked _Ron_ as he pulled a fresh shirt Molly had summoned from their room over his head, successfully pulling _Harry_ from his thoughts.

"You're just about to go to Hogwarts," Molly told him as she handed _Harry_ a shirt.

Sirius picked up the book and opened it to the next chapter, "If nobody minds I'd like to read the next chapter," he said loudly drawing the group's attention. Nobody objects so Sirius cleared his throat,

"**Luna Lovegood**," he read glancing at the blonde girl across the room.

* * *

**So what do you guys think of Ron and Harry's tattoos? In case you didn't work it out the one on Harry's back is the cover for this book and i made it in paint, so i can proudly say that i own it! yay :) Please review...constructive critisism is always good!**


	15. Luna Lovegood

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise or is in bold is the work of JKRowling. I love hearing from you guys so please review :)**

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**Harry had a troubled night's sleep. His parents wove in and out of his dreams never speaking; Mrs Weasley sobbed over Kreacher's dead body, watched by Ron and Hermione who were wearing crowns, and yet again Harry found himself walking clown a corridor ending in a locked door. **

_Harry_ and _Ron_ glanced at each other and Dumbledore frowned at the mention of the entry to the Hall of Prophecy.

**He awoke abruptly with his scar prickling to find Ron already dressed and talking to him.**

"Is it just me, or does Harry have really weird dreams," laughed Fred.

**'. . . better hurry up, Mums going ballistic, she says we're going to miss the train . . .' **

**There was a lot of commotion in the house. From what he heard as he dressed at top speed, Harry gathered that Fred and George had bewitched their trunks to fly downstairs to save the bother of carrying them, with the result that they had hurtled straight into Ginny and knocked her down two flights of stairs into the hall;**

"Boys!" cried Molly as Ginny blanched at the thought of falling down that many stairs.

"We're so sorry," said the Twins guiltily looking at a wide-eyed Ginny who nodded.

**Mrs Black and Mrs Weasley were both screaming at the top of their voices.**

**' - COULD HAVE DONE HER A SERIOUS INJURY, YOU IDIOTS - '**

**' - FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS - '**

**Hermione came hurrying into the room looking flustered, just as Harry was putting on his trainers. Hedwig was swaying or her shoulder, and she was carrying a squirming Crookshanks in her arms.**

**'Mum and Dad just sent Hedwig back.' The owl fluttered obligingly over and perched on top of her cage. Are you ready yet?'**

**'Nearly. Is Ginny all right?' Harry asked, shoving on his glasses.**

**'Mrs Weasley's patched her up,' said Hermione.**

"Thank Merlin," whispered Molly to herself.

**'But now Mad-Eye's complaining that we can't leave unless Sturgis Podmore's here, otherwise the guard will be one short.'**

**'Guard?' said Harry. 'We have to go to King's Cross with a guard?'**

_Harry_ laughed, "_You _have to have a guard," he said laughing again at the indignant look on his younger self's face.

"But doesn't that mean that you had to have a guard as well?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, but that was what, four years ago," _Harry_ told her, "Besides, it's more fun to tease him," _Harry_ added inclining his head in Harry's direction who was glaring at him.

**'You have to go to King's Cross with a guard,' Hermione corrected him.**

**'Why?' said Harry irritably. 'I thought Voldemort was supposed to be lying low, or are you telling me he's going to jump out from behind a dustbin to try and do me in.'**

"Remember that loon that actually tried to do that," laughed _Ron._

"Yeah but he was off his face and convinced he was going to be the next Dark Lord," chuckled _Harry_. Sirius, Tonks and the boys laughed while Hermione, Luna and Ginny giggled.

"How did he try to…you know," asked Ginny hesitantly hoping it wasn't anything too bad but _Harry_ and _Ron_ laughed again.

"He threw a broken bottle at me 'cause he was too pissed to say any incantations right," _Harry_ said inbetween laughs.

"Language _Harry_," scolded Molly lightly as _Harry_ smiled innocently.

**'I don't know, it's just what Mad-Eye says,' said Hermione distractedly, looking at her watch, 'but if we don't leave soon we're definitely going to miss the train . . .'**

**'WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE!' Mrs Weasley bellowed and Hermione jumped as though scalded and hurried out of the room. **

Hermione blushed while Ron whispered, "You're just not used to being yelled at," causing her to blush even more.

**Harry seized Hedwig, stuffed her unceremoniously into her cage, and set off downstairs after Hermione, dragging his trunk.**

**Mrs Black's portrait was howling with rage but nobody was bothering to close the curtains over her; all the noise in the hall was bound to rouse her again, anyway.**

"Well that will be pleasant," said Sirius in a false cheery tone, while the others winced at the thought and nodded.

**'Harry, you're to come with me and Tonks,' shouted Mrs Weasley over the repeated screeches of 'MUDBLOODS! SCUM! CREATURES OF DIRT!' - 'Leave your trunk and your owl, Alastor's going to deal with the luggage . . . oh, for heaven's sake, Sirius, Dumbledore said no!'**

"Oh, I wasn't aware I had asked anything yet," said Sirius interrupting himself again.

"Well now you don't have to because you already know the answer," said Molly sternly, but Sirius ignored her and continued to read.

**A bear-like black dog had appeared at Harry's side as he was clambering over the various trunks cluttering the hall to get to Mrs Weasley.**

"Sirius!" cried Molly and Emmeline.

"What there is no way I'm missing seeing Harry off at the station!" he retorted.

**'Oh honestly . . .' said Mrs Weasley despairingly. 'Well, on your own head be it!'**

**She wrenched open the front door and stepped out into the weak September sunlight. Harry and the dog followed her. The door slammed behind them and Mrs Black's screeches were cut off instantly.**

"Thank Christ," whispered _Harry_ to _Ron_ who laughed under his breath.

**'Where's Tonks?' Harry said, looking round as they went down the stone steps of number twelve, which vanished the moment they reached the pavement.**

**'She's waiting for us just up here,' said Mrs Weasley stiffly, averting her eyes from the lolloping black dog beside Harry.**

"See, I'm fine outside," Sirius told Molly who rolled her eyes.

**An old woman greeted them on the corner. She had tightly curled grey hair and wore a purple hat shaped like a pork pie.**

Tonks smiled at the description and quickly changed her appearance to match it. "Well, what do you think?" she asked.

"I think that's really creepy," muttered Sirius. Tonks pouted but changed her appearance back to her young bubble-gum pink haired self.

**'Wotcher, Harry,' she said, winking. 'Better hurry up, hadn't we, Molly?' she added, checking her watch.**

**'I know, I know,' moaned Mrs Weasley, lengthening her stride, 'but Mad-Eye wanted to wait for Sturgis . . . if only Arthur could have got us cars from the Ministry again . . . but Fudge won't let him borrow so much as an empty ink bottle these days . . . how Muggles can stand travelling without magic . . .'**

"They all have cars, and taxis, and other modes of transportation," shrugged Hermione.

"Really, what is a taxy?" asked Arthur looking excited.

"It's pretty much the same as the Ministry cars, so someone else is driving, but you have to pay for the ride," answer Hermione before Molly could cut her off.

**But the great black dog gave a joyful bark and gambolled around them, snapping at pigeons and chasing its own tail. **

"Sounds like you're enjoying yourself," smiled Remus while Sirius grinned and nodded. _Harry_ smiled sadly that had been one of the only times he had ever seen his godfather truly happy, the other time; he had been talking about James and their school days.

**Harry couldn't help laughing. Sirius had been trapped inside for a very long time. **

"Yeah and it will be good to get out of here," grinned Sirius.

"What don't you like our little makeover," mock pouted _Ron_, Sirius blanched,

"Are you kidding?" he exclaimed. "This room is bloody brilliant, I can't thank you enough." Sirius stood and before either _Harry_ or _Ron_ could stop him he had tackled them in a huge bear hug. "The door handles were amazing by the way," Sirius added as he pulled away.

"I'm glad you liked it," laughed _Harry_ while Sirius returned to his seat next to Emmeline who was laughing at the look on Sirius's face.

"How did you do it anyway?" asked Molly.

"Er...well, we've been helping to fix it up back home, so we know which spells will work without something exploding," replied _Ron_, carefully omitting that it was Kreacher that they were helping as well as the fact that it was actually _Harry_ fixing up Grimmauld in the first place.

"You might need to get new lounges anyway, this stuff has all just been transfigured," added _Harry _as Sirius nodded. Tranfiguring objects was all well and good for a temporary solution, but having the real deal was always better.

**Mrs Weasley pursed her lips in an almost Aunt Petunia-ish way.**

Molly bristled at the comparison.

**It took them twenty minutes to reach King's Cross on foot and nothing more eventful happened during that time than Sirius scaring a couple of cats for Harry's entertainment. **

"Though now that I think about it, Sirius looked like he was enjoying himself more," laughed _Harry_. Harry grinned at the light-hearted side of his godfather, he couldn't wait to see it himself, but then he supposed that was exactly what he was seeing in this room at the moment. He looked behind him at Sirius who grinned at him when he caught his eye; _yeah _Harry thought _I'm definitely starting to see it_.

**Once inside the station they lingered casually beside the barrier between platforms nine and ten until the coast was clear, then each of them leaned against it in turn and fell easily through on to platform nine and three-quarters, where the Hogwarts Express stood belching sooty steam over a platform packed with departing students and their families. Harry inhaled the familiar smell and felt his spirits soar . . . he was really going back . . .**

The teenagers all cheered.

**'I hope the others make it in time,' said Mrs Weasley anxiously, staring behind her at the wrought-iron arch spanning the platform, through which new arrivals would come.**

**'Nice dog, Harry!' called a tall boy with dreadlocks.**

**Thanks, Lee,' said Harry, grinning, as Sirius wagged his tail frantically.**

"See, I can get away with it," mumbled Sirius, still cheerful from the thought of him getting out of the house.

**'Oh good,' said Mrs Weasley, sounding relieved, 'here's Alastor with the luggage, look . . .'**

**A porter's cap pulled low over his mismatched eyes, Moody came limping through the archway pushing a trolley loaded with their trunks.**

**'All OK,' he muttered to Mrs Weasley and Tonks, 'don't think we were followed . . .'**

"It's a possibility," mumbled Moody when Tonks giggled.

**Seconds later, Mr Weasley emerged on to the platform with Ron and Hermione. They had almost unloaded Moody's luggage trolley when Fred, George and Ginny turned up with Lupin.**

**'No trouble?' growled Moody.**

**'Nothing,' said Lupin.**

**'I'll still be reporting Sturgis to Dumbledore,' said Moody, 'that's the second time he's not turned up in a week. Getting as unreliable as Mundungus.'**

Dumbledore frowned; something must have happened to Sturgis, he was after all a very reliable man.

**'Well, look after yourselves,' said Lupin, shaking hands all round. He reached Harry last and gave him a clap on the shoulder. 'You too, Harry. Be careful.'**

"You're allowed to hug him you know," said Molly. Remus shrugged but before he could say anything,

"Remus isn't really into public displays of affection," explained Sirius. Tonks nodded to herself, she couldn't really think of a time that she had never really seen Remus hug anybody, not even Sirius who was his best friend, when other people were around. While Tonks silently pondered whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, Sirius continued to read.

**'Yeah, keep your head down and your eyes peeled,' said Moody, shaking Harry's hand too. 'And don't forget, all of you - careful what you put in writing. If in doubt, don't put it in a letter at all.'**

"Yeah codes can be cracked," added Bill, which he thought sounded funny coming from him seeing as he was a curse breaker and all.

**'It's been great meeting all of you,' said Tonks, hugging Hermione and Ginny. 'We'll see you soon, I expect.'**

"Sounds like we end up getting pretty close," said Tonks smiling at the two girls.

"Yeah, by the end of that summer we were all really close," said _Ron_. It had hit Ginny and Hermione hard when Tonks died, Hermione had told him just after her funeral that Tonks would stay up with them and talk about boys and other girly stuff like that.

**A warning whistle sounded; the students still on the platform started hurrying on to the train.**

**'Quick, quick,' said Mrs Weasley distractedly, hugging them at random and catching Harry twice, 'Write . . . be good . . . if you've forgotten anything we'll send it on . . . on to the train, now, hurry . . .'**

**For one brief moment, the great black dog reared on to its hind legs and placed its front paws on Harry's shoulders, **

"Sirius!" hissed Molly, while Emmeline elbowed him.

"What? Dogs do do that you know!" he replied a little indignantly.

"He's right, my neighbour's dog does it," added Tonks.

**but Mrs Weasley shoved Harry away towards the train door, hissing, 'For heaven's sake, act more like a dog, Sirius!'**

"That seems more likely to get him noticed," growled Moody as Molly flushed.

**'See you!' Harry called out of the open window as the train began to move, while Ron, Hermione and Ginny waved beside him. The figures of Tonks, Lupin, Moody and Mr and Mrs Weasley shrank rapidly but the black dog was bounding alongside the window, wagging its tail; blurred people on the platform were laughing to see it chasing the train, then they rounded a bend, and Sirius was gone.**

"But I'll see you soon," whispered Sirius into Harry's ear who nodded and once again leaned back against Sirius's legs.

**'He shouldn't have come with us,' said Hermione in a worried voice.**

"I only meant that he could be recognised," hissed Hermione when Harry glared at her.

**'Oh, lighten up,' said Ron, 'he hasn't seen daylight for months, poor bloke.'**

"Thanks Ron," smiled Sirius as Ron smiled back.

**'Well,' said Fred, clapping his hands together, 'can't stand around chatting all day, we've got business to discuss with Lee. See you later,' and he and George disappeared down the corridor to the right.**

"And what business would that be?" asked Molly in a dangerous tone.

"We wouldn't know," said George innocently.

"What with this being in the future and all," added Fred grinning as their mother glared at them.

**The train was gathering still more speed, so that the houses outside the window flashed past, and they swayed where they stood.**

**'Shall we go and find a compartment, then?' Harry asked.**

**Ron and Hermione exchanged looks.**

**'Er,' said Ron.**

"Awkward," stage whispered the Twins making the room laugh.

**'We're - well - Ron and I are supposed to go into the prefect carriage,' Hermione said awkwardly.**

**Ron wasn't looking at Harry; he seemed to have become intensely interested in the fingernails on his left hand.**

**'Oh,' said Harry. 'Right. Fine.'**

**'I don't think we'll have to stay there all journey,' said Hermione quickly. 'Our letters said we just get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time.'**

"Sound boring actually," said Ron.

"It wasn't that bad," his future self told him, while ignoring the approving looks from Hermione and his mother at the same time.

**'Fine,' said Harry again. 'Well, I - I might see you later, then.'**

**'Yeah, definitely,' said Ron, casting a shifty, anxious look at Harry. 'It's a pain having to go down there, I'd rather - but we have to - 'I mean, I'm not enjoying it, I'm not Percy,' he finished defiantly.**

"Not that there was anything wrong with him, he's just up tight," said _Ron_ quietly as Molly's eyes watered.

**'I know you're not,' said Harry and he grinned. But as Hermione and Ron dragged their trunks, Crookshanks and a caged Pigwidgeon off towards the engine end of the train, Harry felt an odd sense of loss. He had never travelled on the Hogwarts Express without Ron.**

"It was quiet weird actually, even when I haven't been on the train I was with Ron," added _Harry._

"It was weird wasn't it," laughed _Ron._

"When haven't you caught the train?" asked Kingsley.

"Err, second year, we missed the train and flew dad's car to school," explained _Ron_.

"You flew a car to school?" asked Sirius Harry, looking somewhere between stunned and excited.

"And crashed it into the Whomping Willow," added Molly glaring at the two boys and the smile was instantly wiped from Sirius's face all traces of excitement gone.

"You'll be explaining that one later," said Remus who was looking rather pale. Harry groaned but nodded, at least it wasn't that bad, he had only gotten a few scrapes and the wind knocked out of him, nothing too dangerous or life threatening.

**'Come on,' Ginny told him, 'if we get a move on we'll be able to save them places.'**

**'Right,' said Harry, picking up Hedwig's cage in one hand and the handle of his trunk in the other. They struggled off down the corridor, peering through the glass-panelled doors into the compartments they passed, which were already full. Harry could not help noticing that a lot of people stared back at him with great interest and that several of them nudged their neighbours and pointed him out. **

Harry groaned and comforted himself by pressing his back into Sirius's legs, who squeezed his shoulder.

**After he had met this behaviour in five consecutive carriages he remembered that the Daily Prophet had been telling its readers all summer what a lying show-off he was. He wondered dully whether the people now staring and whispering believed the stories.**

"Great," mumbled Harry scowling at the floor, then looking at his older self asked, "Is it worse than with the chamber?" _Harry _thought about it and nodded, as Harry groaned again and Ron and Hermione squeezed his hand and shoulder in comfort.

**In the very last carriage they met Neville Longbottom, Harry's fellow fifth-year Gryffindor, his round face shining with the effort of pulling his trunk along and maintaining a one-handed grip on his struggling toad, Trevor.**

"Trevor the ever escaping toad," laughed Ron, trying to take Harry's mind off things but it didn't work.

**'Hi, Harry,' he panted. 'Hi, Ginny . . . everywhere's full . . . I can't find a seat . . . '**

**'What are you talking about?' said Ginny, who had squeezed past Neville to peer into the compartment behind him. There's room in this one, there's only Loony Lovegood in here - '**

"Ginny!" cried Molly.

"What I've been calling Luna that since I was five!" defended Ginny.

"It's perfectly alright, Mrs Weasley, it's an affectionate nickname when Ginny says it," said Luna speaking up for the first time, her dreamy voice drifted around the room as she smiled at Ginny.

"That doesn't mean she should say it," grumbled Molly.

**Neville mumbled something about not wanting to disturb anyone.**

**'Don't be silly,' said Ginny, laughing, 'she's all right.'**

**She slid the door open and pulled her trunk inside. Harry and Neville followed.**

**'Hi, Luna.' said Ginny, 'is it OK if we take these seats?'**

**The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist-length, dirty blonde hair, very pale eyebrows and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. Harry knew at once why Neville had chosen to pass this compartment by. The girl gave off an aura of distinct dottiness. **

"Sorry Luna," said Harry blushing.

"Oh, was there something bad about it?" asked Luna confused.

"Err…no…it…never mind," replied Harry slightly dumb struck.

**Perhaps it was the fact that she had stuck her wand behind her left ear for safekeeping, **

"Better than your back pocket Potter," said Moody with a twisted smile.

**or that she had chosen to wear a necklace of Butterbeer corks, or that she was reading a magazine upside-down. **

Hermione looked at the strange girl across the room, she wasn't wearing the necklace but she did have something that looked suspiciously like radishes hanging from her ears.

**Her eyes ranged over Neville and came to rest on Harry. She nodded.**

**Thanks,' said Ginny, smiling at her.**

**Harry and Neville stowed the three trunks and Hedwig's cage in the luggage rack and sat down. Luna watched them over her upside-down magazine, which was called **_**The Quibbler**_**. She did not seem to need to blink as much as normal humans. **

Hermione supressed a groan, she had picked up a copy of the Quibbler once and had found it to be utterly ridiculous, but then she looked over at Luna and thought that the girl was a bit ridiculous as well.

**She stared and stared at Harry, who had taken the seat opposite her and now wished he hadn't.**

**'Had a good summer, Luna?' Ginny asked.**

**'Yes,' said Luna dreamily, without taking her eyes off Harry. 'Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. You're Harry Potter,' she added.**

**'I know I am,' said Harry.**

The Twins laughed, "I suppose that's better than 'oh, him'" laughed Fred.

"Yeah, at least you know who you are now," laughed George.

"Inside joke," Harry explained as he rolled his eyes at the Twins and poked his tongue out.

**Neville chuckled. Luna turned her pale eyes on him instead.**

**'And I don't know who you are.'**

**'I'm nobody,' said Neville hurriedly.**

**'No you're not,' said Ginny sharply. 'Neville Longbottom - Luna Lovegood. Luna's in my year, but in Ravenclaw.'**

**'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure,' said Luna in a singsong voice.**

**She raised her upside-down magazine high enough to hide her face and fell silent. Harry and Neville looked at each other with their eyebrows raised. Ginny suppressed a giggle.**

"Don't worry, Luna has that effect on everybody," laughed Ginny.

"People seem to think that I'm odd," said Luna dreamily from her seat. Fred raised an eyebrow at the girl as she stared into space, he could see why.

**The train rattled onwards, speeding them out into open country. It was an odd, unsettled sort of day; one moment the carriage was full of sunlight and the next they were passing beneath ominously grey clouds.**

"That doesn't sound good," muttered Moody to himself, trying to work out what it could mean.

**'Guess what I got for my birthday?' said Neville.**

**'Another Remembrall?' said Harry, remembering the marble-like device Neville's grandmother had sent him in an effort to improve his abysmal memory.**

"Those things are a complete waste of money, they don't even tell you what you've forgotten," complained Emmeline, she had had one at Hogwarts and she hated the thing.

"Calm down Love, it was one time, you forgot about Marley's birthday once," laughed Sirius as Emmeline pouted at him, giving him the insane urge to kiss her plump red lips.

**'No,' said Neville. 'I could do with one, though, I lost the old one ages ago . . . no, look at this . . .'**

**He dug the hand that was not keeping a firm grip on Trevor into his schoolbag and after a little bit of rummaging pulled out what appeared to be a small grey cactus in a pot, except that it was covered with what looked like boils rather than spines.**

**'Mimbulus mimbletonia,' he said proudly.**

"He does like his plants," commented Ginny.

**Harry stared at the thing. It was pulsating slightly, giving it the rather sinister look of some diseased internal organ.**

**'It's really, really rare,' said Neville, beaming. 'I don't know if there's one in the greenhouse at Hogwarts, even. I can't wait to show it to Professor Sprout. My Great Uncle Algie got it for me in Assyria. **

"It's still better than Trevor," muttered _Ron_

**I'm going to see if I can breed from it.'**

**Harry knew that Neville's favourite subject was Herbology but for the life of him he could not see what he would want with this stunted little plant.**

**'Does it - er - do anything?' he asked.**

**'Loads of stuff!' said Neville proudly. 'It's got an amazing defensive mechanism. Here, hold Trevor for me . . .'**

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" asked Harry, but nobody answered.

**He dumped the toad into Harry's lap and took a quill from his schoolbag. Luna Lovegood's popping eyes appeared over the top of her upside-down magazine again, to watch what Neville was doing. Neville held the Mimbulus mimblctonia up to his eyes, his tongue between his teeth, chose his spot, and gave the plant a sharp prod with the tip of his quill.**

_Harry_ grimaced, that had not been a good idea on Neville's part.

**Liquid squirted from every boil on the plant; thick, stinking, dark green jets of it. They hit the ceiling, the windows, and spattered Luna Lovegood's magazine; Ginny, who had flung her arms up in front of her face just in time, merely looked as though she was wearing a slimy green hat, but Harry, whose hands had been busy preventing Trevor's escape, received a faceful. It smelled like rancid manure.**

_Ron_ burst out laughing at this as he had missed it the first time, and the entire room quickly followed suit, laughing at Harry's misfortune.

**Neville, whose face and torso were also drenched, shook his head to get the worst out of his eyes.**

**'S - sorry,' he gasped. 'I haven't tried that before . . . didn't realise it would be quite so . . . don't worry, though, Stinksap's not poisonous,' he added nervously, as Harry spat a mouthful on to the floor.**

"Still tastes like manure though," mumbled _Harry_ as _Ron_ laughed.

**At that precise moment the door of their compartment slid open.**

**'Oh . . . hello, Harry,' said a nervous voice. 'Urn . . . bad time?'**

"When is it not?" Harry asked himself.

**Harry wiped the lenses of his glasses with his Trevor-free hand. A very pretty girl with long, shiny black hair was standing in the doorway smiling at him: Cho Chang, the Seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.**

"And why haven't I heard anything about this lovely young lady?" asked Sirius wriggling his eyebrows and making Harry blush.

**'Oh . . . hi,' said Harry blankly.**

**'Um . . .' said Cho. 'Well . . . just thought I'd say hello . . . bye then.'**

Harry groaned as Fred laughed, "Well that was awkward."

"Ah well, I'll just have to give you some pointers on girls, I helped your dad win over Lily," said Sirius proudly.

"You mean _I_ helped him Padfoot, your advice usually got James slapped in the face," said Remus dryly.

"Oh, was that not the point of the exercise?" asked Sirius smiling innocently.

"I knew you did it on purpose!" laughed Remus.

"Yeah well it was too good of an opportunity to pass up," shrugged Sirius while both Harry's looked at him incredulously.

"I think I'll be fine on my own," said Harry, while _Harry_ grimaced knowing it wasn't going to be pretty.

**Rather pink in the face, she closed the door and departed. Harry slumped back in his seat and groaned. He would have liked Cho to discover him sitting with a group of very cool people laughing their heads off at a joke he had just told; he would not have chosen to be sitting with Neville and Loony Lovegood, clutching a toad and dripping in Stinksap.**

"Thanks Harry," said Ginny glaring at Harry.

**'Never mind,' said Ginny bracingly. **

_Harry _snorted quietly he didn't know Ginny had been jealous of Cho, he'd have to tease her about it later.

**'Look, we can easily get rid of all this.' She pulled out her wand. 'Scourgify!'**

**The Stinksap vanished.**

**'Sorry.' said Neville again, in a small voice.**

**Ron and Hermione did not turn up for nearly an hour, by which time the food trolley had already gone by. **

"Worst part of being a prefect so far," grumbled Ron while Hermione rolled her eyes at his ridiculousness.

**Harry, Ginny and Neville had finished their pumpkin pasties and were busy swapping Chocolate Frog Cards when the compartment door slid open and they walked in, accompanied by Crookshanks and a shrilly hooting Pigwidgeon in his cage.**

**'I'm starving,' said Ron, stowing Pigwidgeon next to Hedwig, grabbing a Chocolate Frog from Harry and throwing himself into the seat next to him. **

"Sure Ron go ahead and take one I don't mind," said Harry dryly.

"If you say so," retorted Ron slightly red around the ears while Ginny and Hermione giggled.

**He ripped open the wrapper, bit off the frog's head and leaned back with his eyes closed as though he had had a very exhausting morning.**

"All you have to do is sit there and listen to a speech," cried Bill, "how is that exhausting?" he asked but Ron just shrugged.

"Yeah well it nearly ended up in a duel with Malfoy there," added _Ron_.

"Malfoy's a prefect?" asked Harry as though he was pleading it wasn't true.

"It'll say in a moment," was all _Ron_ said.

**'Well, there are two fifth-year prefects from each house,' said Hermione, looking thoroughly disgruntled as she took her seat. 'Boy and girl from each.'**

**'And guess who's a Slytherin prefect?' said Ron, still with his eyes closed.**

**'Malfoy,' replied Harry at once, certain his worst fear would be confirmed.**

**'Course,' said Ron bitterly, stuffing the rest of the Frog into his mouth and taking another.**

**'And that complete cow Pansy Parkinson,' said Hermione viciously. 'How she got to be a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll . . .**

"Hermione!" cried Molly while most of the room burst out laughing and Hermione flushed _well it is true_ she thought.

**'Who are Hufflepuff's?' Harry asked.**

**'Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott,' said Ron thickly.**

"Bet you it'll be Hannah Longbottom before long," whispered _Harry_ in _Ron's_ ear smirking.

**'And Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw,' said Hermione.**

**'You went to the Yule Ball with Padma Patil,' said a vague voice.**

**Everyone turned to look at Luna Lovegood, who was gazing unblinkingly at Ron over the top of The Quibbler. He swallowed his mouthful of Frog.**

"At least you swallowed," said Hermione smiling sweetly at Ron who blushed and glared at her.

**'Yeah, I know I did,' he said, looking mildly surprised.**

**'She didn't enjoy it very much,' Luna informed him. **

"I don't think Ron enjoyed it all that much either," laughed Harry as Ron pouted.

**'She doesn't think you treated her very well, because you wouldn't dance with her. I don't think I'd have minded,' she added thoughtfully, 'I don't like dancing very much.'**

"You're a great dancer though," complimented _Ron_ while Luna smiled at him.

"When did you dance with Luna," asked Hermione frowning.

"At a wedding," said _Ron_ trying not to laugh at the look on her face, it had been at Percy's wedding and because Audrey didn't have any close female friends, so she had asked Ginny, Hermione and Luna to be her bridesmaids.

**She retreated behind The Quibbler again. Ron stared at the cover with his mouth hanging open for a few seconds, then looked around at Ginny for some kind of explanation, but Ginny had stuffed her knuckles in her mouth to stop herself giggling. **

"Shut up Ginny," scowled Ron as Ginny giggled uncontrollably.

**Ron shook his head, bemused, then checked his watch.**

**'We're supposed to patrol the corridors every so often,' he told Harry and Neville, 'and we can give out punishments if people are misbehaving. I can't wait to get Crabbe and Goyle for something . . . '**

"Ron, don't you dare abuse your power as a prefect," growled Molly.

**'You're not supposed to abuse your position, Ron!' said Hermione sharply.**

**'Yeah, right, because Malfoy won't abuse it at all,' said Ron sarcastically.**

**'So you're going to descend to his level?'**

"No, I'm just not going to let Malfoy and his cronies walk all over me this year," answered Ron.

**'No, I'm just going to make sure I get his mates before he gets mine.'**

"That too," he added while Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed

**'For heaven's sake, Ron - '**

**'I'll make Goyle do lines, it'll kill him, he hates writing,' said Ron happily. He lowered his voice to Goyle's low grunt and, screwing up his face in a look of pained concentration, mimed writing in midair. 'I . . . must. . . not. . . look . . .like . . . a . . . baboon's . . . backside.'**

Everyone in the room laughed but Luna seem to find it the funniest as she toppled over and landed in Fred's lap. She smiled at him, but before he could say anything she turned her attention back to Sirius.

**Everyone laughed, but nobody laughed harder than Luna Lovegood. She let out a scream of mirth that caused Hedwig to wake up and flap her wings indignantly and Crookshanks to leap up into the luggage rack, hissing. Luna laughed so hard her magazine slipped out of her grasp, slid down her legs and on to the floor.**

**'That was funny!'**

"It really was," laughed the Luna in the room, who seemed to have more control over herself, though she was still giggling madly.

**Her prominent eyes swam with tears as she gasped for breath, staring at Ron. Utterly nonplussed, he looked around at the others, who were now laughing at the expression on Ron's face and at the ludicrously prolonged laughter of Luna Lovegood, who was rocking backwards and forwards, clutching her sides.**

Ron raised an eyebrow, he hadn't said anything that funny had he?

**'Are you taking the mickey?' said Ron, frowning at her.**

"No, it was really quite funny," answered Luna giggling again.

**'Baboon's . . . backside!' she choked, holding her ribs.**

**Everyone else was watching Luna laughing, but Harry, glancing at the magazine on the floor, noticed something that made him dive for it. Upside-down it had been hard to tell what the picture on the front was, but Harry now realised it was a fairly bad cartoon of Cornelius Fudge; Harry only recognised him because of the lime-green bowler hat. One of Fudges hands was clenched around a bag of gold; the other hand was throttling a goblin. The cartoon was captioned: **_**How Far Will Fudge Go to Gain Gringotts?**_

**Beneath this were listed the titles of other articles inside the magazine.**

_**Corruption in the Quidditch League:**_

_**How the Tornados are Taking Control**_

_**Secrets of the Ancient Runes Revealed**_

_**Sirius Black: Villain or Victim?**_

"Victim!" cried Sirius immediately making Emmeline giggle at him.

**'Can I have a look at this?' Harry asked Luna eagerly.**

**She nodded, still gazing at Ron, breathless with laughter.**

"Sounds like she has a crush," laughed George in his brother's ear who snickered at the thought.

**Harry opened the magazine and scanned the index. Until this moment he had completely forgotten the magazine Kingsley had handed Mr Weasley to give to Sirius, but it must have been this edition of **_**The Quibbler**_**.**

"So now I get to find out what everybody thinks is so funny," said Sirius looking excited.

_Harry_ and _Ron_ snickered, remembering the article.

**He found the page, and turned excitedly to the article.**

**This, too, was illustrated by a rather bad cartoon; in fact, Harry would not have known it was supposed to be Sirius if it hadn't been captioned. Sirius was standing on a pile of human bones with his wand out. The headline on the article said:**

_**SIRIUS - BLACK AS HE'S PAINTED?**_

"That is actually quite a clever play on words," said Kingsley while Moody nodded.

"What d'you mean?" asked the Twins.

"Well, for starters they managed to get his entire name in the title in the right order while still making sense, and secondly, 'black as he's painted' refers to Sirius's role in the Black Family that are known for their use of the Dark Arts, so it's challenging people's beliefs " Kingsley explained. It was funny when you thought about it, and made Kingsley wonder how long it had taken someone to come up with.

_**Notorious mass murderer or innocent singing sensation?**_

"Padfoot couldn't sing to save his life," laughed Remus.

"I could when we were younger," defended Sirius glaring at him.

"You keep telling yourself that Sirius," said Remus winking at Harry who laughed.

**Harry had to read this first sentence several times before he was convinced that he had not misunderstood it. Since when had Sirius been a singing sensation?**

"My thoughts exactly," added Emmeline.

"I thought you were on my side," Sirius whined.

"I've heard you sing," she grinned as Sirius pouted at her, sending her heart racing. _No, stop it_ she told herself.

_**For fourteen years Sirius Black has been believed guilty of the mass murder of twelve innocent Muggles and one wizard. Black's audacious escape from Azkaban two years ago has led to the widest manhunt ever conducted by the Ministry of Magic. None of us has ever questioned that he deserves to be recaptured and handed back to the Dementors.**_

_**BUT DOES HE?**_

"No!" cried Harry as well as most of the room, Sirius smiled at them, glad for their support and kept reading.

_**Startling new evidence has recently come to light that Sirius Black may not have committed the crimes for which he was sent to Azhaban. In fact, says Doris Purkiss, of 18 Acanthia Way, Little Norton, Black may not even have been present at the killings.**_

Sirius frowned; he had most definitely been there that day. He could remember everything about it with exact clarity, the sounds, the smells, and the look on his best friends face as he stabbed him in the back, yeah Sirius had most definitely been there.

_**'What people don't realise is that Sirius Black is a false name,' says Mrs Purkiss.**_

Sirius paused, not really sure he should keep reading or not.

"Come on Padfoot, you wanted to know so now you have to read it," smirked _Harry._

_**'The man people believe to be Sirius Black is actually Stubby Boardman, lead singer of popular singing group The Hobgoblins, **_

There was a ring of laughter from around the room, though most of it seemed to be coming from Remus, Tonks and Harry.

_**who retired from public life after being struck on the ear by a turnip at a concert in Little Norton Church Hall nearly fifteen years ago. I recognised him the moment I saw his picture in the paper. Now, Stubby couldn't possibly have committed those crimes, because on the day in question he happened to be enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with me.**_

This made Remus laugh harder. "Going for another one night stand, aye Padfoot," teased Remus, grinning when Emmeline playfully smacked Sirius, mock-scowling.

"You'd know all about one night stands wouldn't you Moony," retorted Sirius who grinned when Tonks, who wasn't one to miss out, smacked Remus playfully as well.

"When you lot are finished flirting and whatever, Sirius, can you please keep reading," said _Harry_ smirking as the four of them blushed and the rest of the room snickered.

_**I have written to the Minister for Magic and am expecting him to give Stubby, alias Sirius, a full pardon any day now.'**_

"I think she'll be waiting a while," said Arthur trying not to laugh.

**Harry finished reading and stared at the page in disbelief. Perhaps it was a joke, he thought, perhaps the magazine often printed spoof items. **

"No, it prints articles that people send in," said Luna.

"How do you know?" asked Hermione curiously, her first impression of Luna was that she was a bit ditzy and well, vague, but this didn't seem to be very true.

**He flicked back a few pages and found the piece on Fudge.**

_**Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, denied that he had any plans to take over the running of the Wizarding Bank, Gringotts, when he was elected Minister for Magic jive years ago. Fudge has always insisted that he wants nothing more than to 'co-operate peacefully' with the guardians of our gold.**_

"I'm fairly certain that's what every Minister says," said Bill, and by that he meant that most of them wanted nothing to do with Goblins.

_**BUT DOES HE?**_

_**Sources close to the Minister have recently disclosed that Fudge's dearest ambition is to seize control of the goblin gold supplies and that he will not hesitate to use force if need be.**_

Dumbledore chuckled at the thought, Cornelius was hesitant to do a lot of things, and taking over Gringotts would definitely be one of them.

_**'It wouldn't be the first time, either,' said a Ministry insider. 'Cornelius "Goblin-Crusher" Fudge, that's what his friends call him. If you could hear him when he thinks no one's listening, oh, he's always talking about the goblins he's had done in; he's had them drowned, he's had them dropped off buildings, he's had them poisoned, he's had them cooked in pies . . .'**_

"Cooked in pies, that's absurd, who wrote this," asked Hermione, while Molly nodded, she had never heard such nonsense in her life and she raised the Twins.

**Harry did not read any further. Fudge might have many faults but Harry found it extremely hard to imagine him ordering goblins to be cooked in pies. **

"Yes, I highly doubt that Cornelius would any of those things," said Dumbledore.

"Daddy says it's true so he will probably print it anyway," said Luna serenely.

**He flicked through the rest of the magazine. Pausing every few pages, he read: an accusation that the Tutshill Tornados were winning the Quidditch League by a combination of blackmail, illegal broom-tampering and torture; **

"It could happen," supplied Ron.

"You're just saying that 'cause they are beating the Canons," said Fred.

"Everyone is beating the Canons though," added George.

"It could still happen," insisted Ron half-heartedly.

**an interview with a wizard who claimed to have flown to the moon on a Cleansweep Six and brought back a bag of moon frogs to prove it; and an article on ancient runes which at least explained why Luna had been reading The Quibbler upside-down. **

"Oh, that does sound interesting," said Luna leaning forward slightly in her seat.

**According to the magazine, if you turned the runes on their heads they revealed a spell to make your enemy's ears turn into kumquats. **

The Twins snickered, that would be hilarious, maybe they should make a product that did something like that.

**In fact, compared to the rest of the articles in The Quibbler, the suggestion that Sirius might really be the lead singer of The Hobgoblins was quite sensible.**

**'Anything good in there?' asked Ron as Harry closed the magazine.**

"'Course, the Quibbler is brilliant," said _Ron_ while _Harry_ nodded, Luna beamed and the rest of the room looked at the three of them like they were crazy.

**'Of course not,' said Hermione scathingly, before Harry could answer. The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that.'**

"My father's the editor," snapped Luna icily, her dreamy expression disappearing as she glared at Hermione.

**'Excuse me,' said Luna; her voice had suddenly lost its dreamy quality. 'My father's the editor.'**

**'I - oh,' said Hermione, looking embarrassed. 'Well . . . it's got some interesting . . . I mean, it's quite…'**

Hermione blushed and wished she would just stop talking. "I-I'm sorry Luna, I didn't mean to offend you," she apologised. Luna stopped glaring and nodded, but otherwise gave no indication that she had forgiven her.

**'I'll have it back, thank you,' said Luna coldly, and leaning forwards she snatched it out of Harry's hands. Riffling through it to page fifty-seven, she turned it resolutely upside-down again and disappeared behind it, just as the compartment door opened for the third time.**

"You were expecting it?" asked Tonks.

"Unfortunately," responded Harry as Hermione and Ron nodded.

**Harry looked around; he had expected this, but that did not make the sight of Draco Malfoy smirking at him from between his cronies Crabbe and Goyle any more enjoyable.**

"Is it just me, or does he come to find us on purpose?" Ron asked the other two.

"Maybe he misses us," replied Harry.

"That or he thinks we're better conversation than Crabbe and Goyle," added Hermione

"'Mione, we are better conversation than Crabbe and Goyle," laughed _Ron_ from across the room.

"Well Harry is, I'm not so sure about you," she said smiling mischievously as both Harry's laughed at the look on both of the Ron's faces.

**'What?' he said aggressively, before Malfoy could open his mouth.**

**'Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention,' drawled Malfoy, whose sleek blond hair and pointed chin were just like his father's. 'You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments.'**

"See Mum?" complained Ron, referring to her earlier comment about him abusing power.

"That doesn't mean you should," Molly told him sternly. Dumbledore on the other hand made a not to tell Severus to have a chat to Draco about responsibility, otherwise, young Mr Malfoy might find that he is not made a prefect at all.

**'Yeah,' said Harry, 'but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone.'**

**Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville laughed. Malfoy's lip curled.**

**'Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?' he asked.**

**'Shut up, Malfoy,' said Hermione sharply.**

**'I seem to have touched a nerve,' said Malfoy, smirking. 'Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line.'**

"Oh, Sirius I told you it was a bad idea," cried Molly.

"Yes, it was a bad idea, but all of the fault cannot be put on Sirius," explained Dumbledore quietly. "Molly, you yourself said his name out loud, Lucius might have only noticed because he heard you, it could have also been the fact that there were a number of known Order members there accompanying Harry, and Sirius being there was just a logical guess," he added.

Sirius felt a large amount of gratitude towards Dumbledore as he defended his actions. It didn't mean he had forgiven him for everything, but he wasn't as mad at him as he had been last night, thought that probably had something to with his talk with Harry.

**'Get out!' said Hermione, standing up.**

**Sniggering, Malfoy gave Harry a last malicious look and departed, with Crabbe and Goyle lumbering along in his wake. Hermione slammed the compartment door behind them and turned to look at Harry, who knew at once that she, like him, had registered what Malfoy had said and been just as unnerved by it.**

**'Chuck us another Frog,' said Ron, who had clearly noticed nothing.**

"Course not, at that point I'm the bigger picture guy," pointed out _Ron_ rolling his eyes.

"What do you mean?" frowned Ron; he didn't really understand what his future self meant.

"Well the short version goes, Hermione picks up on facts, Harry notices the details-" started _Ron._

"And Ron points out everything we missed because we weren't looking at the bigger picture," finished _Harry_ cutting _Ron_ off. Ron smiled thinking about all of their adventures; _I did do that didn't I_, Ron thought smiling.

"That's some good teamwork you have going there, though I would suggest that you all work on your weaknesses," said Moody sounding impressed.

**Harry could not talk freely in front of Neville and Luna. He exchanged another nervous look with Hermione, then stared out of the window.**

**He had thought Sirius coming with him to the station was a bit of a laugh, but suddenly it seemed reckless, if not downright dangerous . . . Hermione had been right . . . Sirius should not have come. **

"I'm still glad you did," amended Harry quickly as he spun around to look at Sirius.

"It's fine Pup, I know you're just worried," replied Sirius gently.

**What if Mr Malfoy had noticed the black dog and told Draco? What if he had deduced that the Weasleys, Lupin, Tonks and Moody knew where Sirius was hiding? Or had Malfoy's use of the word 'dogging' been a coincidence?**

"It doesn't sound like it, you won't be able to go out at all now Sirius," said Moody seriously.

"It was worth it," replied Sirius, his face blank.

**The weather remained undecided as they travelled further and farther north. Rain spattered the windows in a half-hearted way, then the sun put in a feeble appearance before clouds drifted over it once more. **

"So it was overcast," grinned Tonks.

**When darkness fell and lamps came on inside the carriages, Luna rolled up The Quibbler, put it carefully away in her bag and took to staring at everyone in the compartment instead.**

**Harry was sitting with his forehead pressed against the train window, trying to get a first distant glimpse of Hogwarts, but it was a moonless night and the rain-streaked window was grimy.**

**'We'd better change,' said Hermione at last, and all of them opened their trunks with difficulty and pulled on their school robes. She and Ron pinned their prefect badges carefully to their chests. Harry saw Ron checking his reflection in the black window.**

"Shut up Harry," muttered Ron as he nudged a snickering Harry in the ribs with his elbow.

**At last, the train began to slow down and they heard the usual racket up and down it as everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready to get on. As Ron and Hermione were supposed to supervise all this, they disappeared from the carriage again, leaving Harry and the others to look after Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon.**

"Thanks guys," said Harry and Ginny at the same time. Ginny tried to hold back a blush but failed, leaving Harry to consider how pretty she looked when the colour rose in her cheeks. Harry shook his head, having no idea why he had been thinking that.

**'I'll carry that owl, if you like,' said Luna to Harry, reaching out for Pigwidgeon as Neville stowed Trevor carefully in an inside pocket.**

"Thanks, Luna," said Ron as Luna smiled dreamily at him.

**'Oh - er - thanks,' said Harry, handing her the cage and hoisting Hedwig's more securely into his arms.**

**They shuffled out of the compartment feeling the first sting of the night air on their faces as they joined the crowd in the corridor. Slowly, they moved towards the doors. Harry could smell the pine trees that lined the path down to the lake. He stepped down on to the platform and looked around, listening for the familiar call of 'firs'-years over 'ere . . . firs'-years . . .'**

**But it did not come. **

"Where's Hagrid?" asked Harry, he knew he was doing something for Dumbledore but he thought he would have been back by now.

"He should be on his way back as we speak," Dumbledore reassured him.

"Way back from where," asked the Twins and Ginny.

"He went on a mission to the giant colonies," Harry told them as Ron and Hermione nodded.

"Of course you three would know that," said Molly shaking her head.

"Didn't you know Molly, these three know everything," said Remus lightly.

"Yeah that's why everybody at school calls them the 'Golden Trio'," added Ginny.

"The Golden Trio?" asked Ron and Ginny nodded.

"Yeah, cause you three-" started Fred.

"Know everything-" added George.

"About everyone," finished Fred grinning alongside his twin. The 'Golden Trio' was speechless at this new found information and Sirius took this as an opportunity to keep reading.

**Instead, a quite different voice, a brisk female one, was calling out, 'First-years line up over here, please! All first-years to me!'**

**A lantern came swinging towards Harry and by its light he saw the prominent chin and severe haircut of Professor Grubbly-Plank, the witch who had taken over Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures lessons for a while the previous year.**

Harry groaned, he didn't like her very much.

**'Where's Hagrid?' he said out loud.**

**'I don't know,' said Ginny, 'but we'd better get out of the way, we're blocking the door.'**

**'Oh, yeah . . .'**

**Harry and Ginny became separated as they moved off along the platform and out through the station. Jostled by the crowd, Harry squinted through the darkness for a glimpse of Hagrid; he had to be here, Harry had been relying on it - seeing Hagrid again was one of the things he'd been looking forward to most. But there was no sign of him. **

"He was the first person to show me the wizarding world, my first friend even," shrugged Harry.

**He can't have left, Harry told himself as he shuffled slowly through a narrow doorway on to the road outside with the rest of the crowd. He's just got a cold or something . . .**

**He looked around for Ron or Hermione, wanting to know what they thought about the reappearance of Professor Grubbly-Plank, but neither of them was anywhere near him, so he allowed himself to be shunted forwards on to the dark rain-washed road outside Hogsmeade Station.**

**Here stood the hundred or so horseless stagecoaches that always took the students above first year up to the castle. Harry glanced quickly at them, turned away to keep a lookout for Ron and Hermione, then did a double-take.**

"What?" asked Harry imploring Sirius to read faster.

**The coaches were no longer horseless. There were creatures standing between the carriage shafts. If he had had to give them a name, he supposed he would have called them horses, though there was something reptilian about them, too. **

"Oh, you mean the Thestrals," said Luna looking up from playing with her sleeve.

"Thestrals?" repeated Harry confused.

"They're the creatures that pull the carriages, but you can only see them if you've seen someone die," Luna told him, staring him straight in the eyes.

"Does that mean Ron and I won't be able to see them?" asked Hermione trying to be nice.

"I expect not," she replied.

**They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither - vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. Standing still and quiet in the gathering gloom, the creatures looked eerie and sinister. **

"They're more of a morbid beauty actually," said Remus as the people who had seen them nodded.

"You can see them?" Harry asked him. Remus nodded,

"There was a Death Eater attack on Hogsmead in our last year at Hogwarts, just as the war was starting to take hold, James, Sirius and I, we were there when it happened…" Remus trailed off. Sirius cleared his throat and added,

"Let's just say, that the next time we went into the forest we came across Hagrid feeding them, and he told us all about them."

"That's horrible," cried Arthur, but Remus just shrugged and Sirius kept reading.

**Harry could not understand why the coaches were being pulled by these horrible horses when they were quite capable of moving along by themselves.**

Harry threw a pillow at the Twins before they could say anything but they still laughed.

**'Where's Pig?' said Ron's voice, right behind Harry.**

**That Luna girl was carrying him,' said Harry, turning quickly, eager to consult Ron about Hagrid. 'Where d'you reckon - '**

**' - Hagrid is? I dunno,' said Ron, sounding worried. 'He'd better be OK . . .'**

Arthur smiled at his son; he was more caring than he like to show in front of his brothers. It would be good for all of them to see just how the Trio interacted when nobody else was around.

**A short distance away, Draco Malfoy, followed by a small gang of cronies including Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson, was pushing some timid-looking second-years out of the way so that he and his friends could get a coach to themselves. **

"That boy," growled Molly, "Dumbledore you had better do something about him," she added glowering at Dumbledore who quickly nodded.

**Seconds later, Hermione emerged panting from the crowd.**

**'Malfoy was being absolutely foul to a first-year back there. I swear I'm going to report him, he's only had his badge three minutes and he's using it to bully people worse than ever . . . where's Crookshanks?'**

Yes Dumbledore would definitely be having a word to Severus about Draco's behaviour.

**'Ginny's got him,' said Harry. There she is . . .'**

**Ginny had just emerged from the crowd, clutching a squirming Crookshanks,**

**Thanks,' said Hermione, relieving Ginny of the cat. 'Come on, let's get a carriage together before they all fill up . . .'**

**'I haven't got Pig yet!' Ron said, but Hermione was already heading off towards the nearest unoccupied coach. Harry remained behind with Ron.**

**'What are those things, d'you reckon?' he asked Ron, nodding at the horrible horses as the other students surged past them.**

"There not horrible, just misunderstood," stated Luna scolding Harry lightly.

**'What things?'**

**'Those horse - '**

"Well that's going to get awkward quickly," said Bill.

**Luna appeared holding Pigwidgeon's cage in her arms; the tiny owl was twittering excitedly as usual.**

**'Here you are,' she said. 'He's a sweet little owl, isn't he?'**

**'Er . . . yeah . . . he's all right,' said Ron gruffly. 'Well, come on then, let's get in . . . what were you saying, Harry?'**

"I think she's freaking me out a bit," joked Ron in Harry's ear who laughed quietly.

**'I was saying, what are those horse things?' Harry said, as he, Ron and Luna made for the carriage in which Hermione and Ginny were already sitting.**

**'What horse things?'**

**'The horse things pulling the carriages!' said Harry impatiently. They were, after all, about three feet from the nearest one; it was watching them with empty white eyes. Ron, however, gave Harry a perplexed look.**

"If it makes you feel any better I can see them now," said _Ron_ in a false cheery voice.

"How on earth could that possibly make me feel better?" ask Harry incredulously.

"Since when can you see them," cried Molly while Arthur looked worried.

"I don't really want to talk about it, but I'm sorry to say, Hermione will be able to see them before me," _Ron_ said looking grimly at Hermione who was rather pale at the thought.

**'What are you talking about?'**

**'I'm talking about - look!'**

**Harry grabbed Ron's arm and wheeled him about so that he was face to face with the winged horse. Ron stared straight at it for a second, then looked back at Harry.**

**'What am I supposed to be looking at?'**

"This time I'm just going to nod and agree with you, it'll be a hell of a lot easier," said Ron, trying to get Hermione to smile after the information she had just learnt.

**'At the - there, between the shafts! Harnessed to the coach! It's right there in front - '**

**But as Ron continued to look bemused, a strange thought occurred to Harry.**

**'Can't . . . can't you see them?'**

**'See what?'**

**'Can't you see what's pulling the carriages?'**

**Ron looked seriously alarmed now.**

"Now you're going to think I'm crazy as well," moaned Harry.

"Mate, I already think you're crazy," Ron told him grinning as Harry tried to hit him with a pillow.

**'Are you feeling all right, Harry?'**

**'I . . . yeah . . .'**

**Harry felt utterly bewildered. The horse was there in front of him, gleaming solidly in the dim light issuing from the station windows behind them, vapour rising from its nostrils in the chilly night air. Yet, unless Ron was faking - and it was a very feeble joke if he was - Ron could not see it at all.**

"Yeah 'cause he's really going to fake it," teased Bill as Harry pouted.

**'Shall we get in, then?' said Ron uncertainly, looking at Harry as though worried about him.**

**'Yeah,' said Harry. 'Yeah, go on . . .'**

**'It's all right,' said a dreamy voice from beside Harry as Ron vanished into the coach's dark interior. 'You're not going mad or anything. I can see them, too.'**

"You can see them?" Tonks asked gently, Luna nodded but didn't say anything else.

**'Can you?' said Harry desperately, turning to Luna. He could see the bat-winged horses reflected in her wide silvery eyes.**

**'Oh, yes,' said Luna, 'I've been able to see them ever since my first day here. They've always pulled the carriages. Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am.'**

"You know that statement is nowhere near true," commented _Ron_ as _Harry _punched him.

"_Ron_, don't be rude," scolded Molly.

"That's not what I meant Mum, I meant Luna it ten times saner than Harry is," he grinned.

"Hey," objected Harry.

"Sorry man, but there are so many things you can do before I call you insane," grimaced _Ron_ thinking of Gringotts and the dragon while both Harry's pouted.

**Smiling faintly, she climbed into the musty interior of the carriage alter Ron. Not altogether reassured, Harry followed her.**

"Okay, that's the end of the chapter, how about some lunch," said Sirius closing the book.

"Well, if you actually have an appetite today Sirius, I better make some lunch before it disappears, Merlin knows you need more meat on your bones," said Molly standing.

"But I thought we were going to see that memory," cried the Twins at the same time.

"Well, Molly, why don't you and I make lunch while the others see the memory and we can look at it later," reasoned Emmeline. Molly smiled agreeing and they disappeared out the door and down the stairs.

"All right everyone, those who want to see gather around," said Remus as he tipped the memory into the pensieve. In total, ten people were going into the memory; Sirius, Remus and Tonks, Harry, Ron and Hermione, the Twins, Luna. The other decided they would see it later with Molly and Emmeline.

"Harry you go first, as you have some experience," said Sirius indicating the bowl. Harry nodded before leaning forward and positioning his face above the pensieve. The next moment Harry was falling into a completely different time all together.

* * *

In a remote town near Grimsby:

"You summoned me my Lord?" asked Snape as he bowed in greeting.

"Ah, Severus, I was wondering where you had gotten to," said Voldemort, his voice raspy as Snape stood. "Lucius," he continued, indicating the blonde man standing to his right, "has just been telling me that two Order members…interrupted our meeting this morning, what can you tell me about that?" Voldemort asked.

"I can assure you that Dumbledore gave no order for an attack for this morning, whoever they were, they were not Order members," replied Snape.

Voldemort studied Snape for a moment but didn't feel the need to test his servant to see if he was lying. "I have a new assignment for you Severus, I want you to find out everything you can about these men, I want to know who they are and where they came from, is that clear?" he stated, leaving no room for Snape to actually say no.

"Of course my Lord," said Snape bowing again. He was going to kill _Potter_ and _Weasley_ the next time he saw them!


	16. The Potter Prequel

**I do not own Harry Potter or the Potter Prequel and anything in bold or you recognise is the property of JKRowling. Please review, tell me what you think of the prequel, I personally love it especially since we get a bit of insight ti James and Sirius's dynamic. :)**

* * *

As soon as Harry landed he found himself in the back of a Muggle police car. He looked around and saw that the others were stuffed into the backseat with him.

"What's going on?" asked Fred as the car jerked to the left and he was thrown into the door.

"We're in the middle of a Muggle police chase," Sirius told the group from his spot on the floor.

"I thought this had something to do with you and Mr Potter, who are we chasing?" said Ron as Luna, who was pressed inbetween him and Fred, dreamily brushed the hair out of her face and looked around the car.

"This does have something to do with me and James, that's us on the bike," Sirius explained pointing out the front windscreen, then indicating the two Muggles in the front seats he added, "and these fine gentlemen are Sergeant Fisher and PC Anderson."

"How do you know that?" asked Hermione.

"We had to fill out an incident report later, course it was kept out of the public eye at the time, so hardly anybody knew about it," Sirius once again answered.

Harry watched as the motorcycle carrying his father and godfather came to a corner. _**The speeding motorcycle took the sharp corner so fast in the darkness that both policemen in the pursuing car shouted, "Whoa!" Sergeant Fisher slammed his large foot on the brake, **_and sending the passengers in the back seat flying forward into the back of the seats, _**thinking that the boy who was riding pillion was sure to be flung under his wheels; however, the motorbike made the turn without seating either of its riders, and with a wink of its red tail lights, vanished up the narrow side street.**_

"You two were lucky you didn't get run over," growled Remus, he and Lily had been furious when they had found out.

"How fast were you going?" asked Tonks, who was clinging to the seat with her nails.

"Err…fast," Sirius grinned sheepishly. Tonks glared at him and opened her mouth to say something, but her retort was cut off by PC Anderson,

"_**We've got 'em now!" cried PC Anderson excitedly. "That's a dead end!"**_

"You went up a dead end?" cried Harry incredulously as Sirius blushed.

"I didn't know that at the time, besides, my bike can fly, it's not like it mattered," Sirius defended.

"Of course it mattered what were the Muggles going to think when they saw you flying on a motorbike!" yelled Hermione. Harry's attention was lost on the conversation as he braced himself, he had seen Fisher _**leaning hard on the steering wheel and crashing his gears, **_Remus winced as _**Fisher scraped half the paint off the flank of the car as he forced it up the alleyway in pursuit**_,the screeching of the metal against the brick sounding horrible to his sensitive ears. _**There in the headlights sat their quarry, stationary at last after a quarter of an hour's chase. The two riders were trapped between a towering brick wall and the police car, which was now crawling towards them like some growling luminous-eyes predator.**_

The Twins blinked and suddenly found themselves in the alley between the Muggles and the Marauders.

"How did we get out here?" asked Hermione as the Twins notice that they were all now outside of the car. _At least there is more room out here,_ they thought.

"I'll explain later," Remus promised as the two Muggles also exited the car.

_**There was so little space between the car doors and the walls of the alley that Fisher and Anderson had difficulty extricating themselves from the vehicle. **_Sirius laughed to himself as he remembered how funny the two men had looked coming towards them, he supposed _**it injured their dignity to have to inch, crab-like, towards **_'_**the miscreants**_' as they had so fondly shouted at them when the chase had first begun_**. Fisher dragged his generous belly along the wall, tearing buttons off his shirt as he went, and finally snapping off the wing mirror with his backside. **_This caused the group to laugh, though Hermione was trying to look disapproving at the whole thing at the same time.

"_**Get off the bike!" he bellowed at the smirking youths, who sat basking in the flashing blue light as though enjoying it.**_

"Of course they were enjoying it," laughed Remus.

"What can I say, we loved the spotlight," grinned Sirius as Harry frowned, but kept his focus on the scene that was playing out before him, watching as Sirius and his father _**did as they were told, finally pulling free from the broken wing mirror, Fisher glared at them. They seemed to be in their late teens. The one who had been driving had long black hair, his insolent good looks reminded Fisher unpleasantly of his daughter's guitar-playing, lay-about boyfriend. The second boy also had black hair, though his was short and stuck up in all directions; he wore glasses and a broad grin. Both were dressed in t-shirts emblazoned with a large golden bird; the emblem, no doubt, of some deafening, tuneless rock band.**_

"How come we don't have T-shirts?" asked George as he eyed the golden bird on Sirius and James's chests.

"Dumbledore thought that it might be a bit of a giveaway," said Sirius off handedly, looking at the good looks of his youthful self.

"_**No helmet!" Fisher yelled, pointing from one uncovered head to the other. "Exceeding the speed limit by-by a considerable amount!" **_

Hermione snorted. _Considerable amount_, she thought rolling her eyes.

_**(In fact, the speed registered had been greater than Fisher was prepared to accept that any motorcycle could travel.) "Failure to stop for the police!"**_

"_**We'd have loved to stop for a chat," said the boy in glasses, "only we were trying-"**_

"If that sentence ends with 'trying to have a bit of fun' I'm going to slap you," Remus whispered in Sirius's ear causing Sirius to grin mischievously and move a few paces away from the mock glaring Werewolf.

"_**Don't get smart-you two are in a heap of trouble!" snarled Anderson. "Names!"**_

"He really should have been more specific," muttered Sirius to himself.

"_**Names?" repeated the long-haired driver. "Err-Well, let's see. There's Wilberforce…Bathsheba…Elvendork…" **_Harry looked quizzically towards his godfather for an explanation, but Sirius held his finger to his lips and motioned for Harry to keep listening.

"_**And what's nice about that one is, you can use it for a boy OR a girl," said the boy in glasses.**_

"You know he meant your names right?" Hermione said at the same time as the Twins yelled,

"Elvendork's a name?" and Harry shrieked,

"Please tell me he didn't try to name me that!" Sirius laughed but didn't answer either of them, instead choosing to act out the motion of zipping his lips and pointing to the memory.

"_**Oh, our names, did you mean?" asked the first, as Anderson spluttered with rage. **_

Sirius, Tonks, the Weasley boys and Harry laughed while Ginny and Luna giggled. Hermione on the other hand rolled her eyes but couldn't hold back a giggle of her own.

"_**You should've said! This here is James Potter, and I'm Sirius Black!"**_

"_**Things'll be seriously black for you in a minute, you cheek little-"**_

"See Moony, even he knows my joke, and he's a Muggle," burst out Sirius.

"Yes, and that is exactly why we were and still are sick to death of it," replied Remus dryly as Sirius pouted.

_**But neither James nor Sirius was paying attention. They were suddenly as alert as gundogs, staying past Fisher and Anderson, over the roof of the police car, at the dark mouth of the alley. Then, with identical, fluid movements, they reached into their back pockets.**_

"What's happening?" asked Ron as he watched the two Marauders in the memory tense.

"The real reason this night was labeled an incident," replied Remus soberly.

Harry could imagine what was going through the Muggle's minds, after all how many times had he done it when he was little, _**for the space of a heartbeat both policemen imagined guns gleaming at them, but a second later they saw that the motorcyclists had drawn nothing more than-**_

"_**Drumsticks?" jeered Anderson. **_

"Pfft, he thought they were drumsticks?" said Fred incredulously.

"Maybe a Wackspurt got him," replied Luna, her eyes wide and expression slightly less dreamy than usual as she heard PC Anderson continue.

"_**Right pair of jokers, aren't you? Right, we're arresting you on a charge of–"**_

_**But Anderson never got to name the charge. James and Sirius had shouted something incomprehensible, and the beams from the headlights had moved.**_

"That's quite a good trick, what spell was that?" asked Hermione quickly.

"Um, levitation spell maybe, I don't remember," said Sirius as he and Harry shifted their poses just in time to see _**the policemen wheeled around, then staggered backwards. Three men were flying-actually flying- up the alley on broomsticks-and at the same moment, the police car was rearing up on its back wheels.**_

"Yeah, levitation spell," commented Sirius absently as _**Fisher's knee buckled; as he sat down hard; Anderson tripped over Fisher's legs and fell on top of him, as flump-bang-crunch- they heard the men on brooms slam into the suspended car and fall, apparently insensible, to the ground, while broken bits of broomstick clattered down around them.**_

"Ouch," Tonks winced.

"They were only Death Eaters," shrugged Sirius.

"That doesn't mean it's not going to hurt," she retorted grinning at her cousin.

_**The motorbike had roared into life again. His mouth hanging open, Fisher mustered the strength to look back at the two teenagers.**_

"_**Thanks very much!" called Sirius over the throb of the engine. "We owe you one!"**_

"Still do actually," muttered Sirius to Harry who rolled his eyes at him.

"_**Yeah, nice meeting you!" said James. "And don't forget: Elvendork! It's unisex!"**_

Sirius grinned at his best friend's strange obsession with the name Elvendork as the rest of the group roared with laughter.

_**There was an earth-shaking crash, and Fisher and Anderson threw their arms around each other in fright; their car had just fallen back to the ground. Now it was the motorcycle's turn to rear. Before the policemen's disbelieving eyes, it took off into thin air: James and Sirius zoomed away into the night sky, their tail light twinkling behind them like a vanishing ruby.**_

The scene faded to black and Harry felt himself being lifted out of the memory. The next moment he was back in the drawing room at Grimmauld Place and Emmeline was just coming up the stairs.

"Oh good, you're back," she said helping Sirius to his feet, blushing when their hands touched. "Lunch is almost ready so come down in a few minutes," she added as those who had landed on the floor, or in Tonks's case, as Sirius was delighted to see, who had landed on Remus, righted themselves.

"Thanks Em, we'll be down in a minute," Sirius smiled at her, she returned the smile before retreating to the kitchen.

"So Elvendork is a name," said Fred suddenly.

"Yeah, James was obsessed with it, though I don't have a clue why, I still don't really understand why he thought it was unisex either" Sirius grinned turning to face the rest of the room.

"Imagine a girl named Elvendork," laughed George as the other boys joined him and the girls scowled at him.

"He didn't try to name me that did he?" asked Harry frowning at the smirks on Sirius's and Remus's faces.

"Oh he tried," laughed Remus as Harry wrinkled his nose at the thought, "but Lily, nor anyone else for that matter, would go for it," he continued. "So you ended up as 'Harry' which was his next choice."

"Wait, how come that memory was from a Muggle perspective, I mean shouldn't it have been from yours or Mr. Potter's?" asked Hermione as Remus smiled at the question.

"Well, that would be because the memory is from the Muggles' perspective," stated Remus, but continued at the confused looks, "when a Muggle gets obliviated, a copy of the original memory is kept for documentation in the Hall of Records at the Ministry," Remus finished as the teenagers nodded.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving," pronounced Ron after a moment of silence. The Twins nodded and followed him down to the kitchen, Hermione, Ginny, Tonks and Luna behind them. Sirius and Remus went to follow them downstairs but Harry's voice stopped them.

"Wait, I have a question for you," he said sitting down and nodding at Sirius. The two men glanced at each other before looking back at Harry and sitting down next to him.

"Shoot," said Sirius as he leaned back into the chair.

Harry hesitated, not really how to phrase his question, it was potentially embarrassing for all three of them but he wanted to know, he took a deep breath,

"Is there something going on between you and Emmeline?" Sirius exhaled and Remus smirked.

"Jeez Harry, I thought it was going to be something important," said Sirius holding his hand over his heart dramatically.

"It is important, and don't dodge the question," replied Harry as Sirius pouted.

"I-I…no…maybe… I don't know," mumbled Sirius wiping a hand down his face.

"He's completely in love with her," interjected Remus grinning.

"Like you can talk, I've seen the way you've been looking at Tonks," glared Sirius.

"I'm not in love with her," objected Remus a little too quickly.

"Yeah, and denial is a river in Egypt," quipped Sirius, and now it was Remus's turn to glare.

"You know, as entertaining as this is, Mrs Weasley is going to come looking for us in a minute and unless you'd rather have this conversation in the kitchen…" Harry trailed off as Sirius and Remus blanched,

"NO!" they cried in unison making Harry grin.

"So there _is_ something going on," he laughed as they glared at him.

"Is this 'cause I teased you about that Cho chick?" asked Sirius raising an eyebrow as Harry blushed.

"No, I-I just want to know,"

"It's complicated…"

"Why?" asked Harry confused, if he was in love with her, he should just tell her right?

Sirius sighed again, but didn't answer, taking pity on his friend, Remus took the plunge for him,

"Sirius and Emmeline were dating before…before Sirius was sent to Azkaban, it's complicated because they were deeply in love at the time, in fact I remember Sirius saying he wanted to marry her," Sirius smile slightly as Remus finished speaking.

"But why does that make it complicated?" asked Harry confused.

"Because a lot has changed since then, we're both completely different people, and it would be weird if we tried to pick up from where we left off," Sirius explained as Harry frowned, sure he didn't have very much experience, well, any experience with girls, but he could see the love that Sirius and Emmeline shared, he was about to voice this when Remus cut him off.

"Then start off slow, I happen to know you're both still in love with each other, you just have to admit it," he said squeezing Sirius's shoulder.

"Speaking of admitting it," smiled Sirius as Remus groaned, he had left himself open for that one.

"I don't want to talk about it," muttered Remus as Harry and Sirius exchanged glances.

"Why not, you're in love with Tonks as much as I am with Emmeline, so why won't you admit it?" probed Sirius.

"I don't want to talk about it," Remus repeated.

"But wh-" started Harry but Remus cut him off.

"Because I don't deserve her," he yelled standing up. "I'm too old, too poor and too dangerous!" He was pacing now, trying to work out his thoughts but it wasn't working. He needed time to think, time to himself with no Sirius, no Harry and definitely no Tonks and with that, Remus walked out of the room not saying a word to either Harry or Sirius.

"Let him go," said Sirius as Harry stood to follow Remus. "He needs some time alone," he added sighing.

"Let's go and get lunch then before Mrs Weasley sends a search party for us," replied Harry pulling Sirius from his seat. "Why won't he admit he likes Tonks?" he asked as they reached the door.

"Because that would mean he'd have to let himself be happy, and that's something Moony has never really been able to do," Sirius told him smiling sadly, then seeing the look on Harry's face he sighed again and added, "I'll explain it to you later, you never know, it might come up in the books or something." Harry nodded thus ending the conversation as they headed down for lunch.


	17. The Sorting Hat's New Song

**I do not own Harry Potter anything in bold or you may recognise is the work of JKRowling.**

* * *

"Molly I must say that was delicious," said Sirius as he placed his fork on his plate.

"It must have been, if you managed to eat three helpings," smiled Molly, happy to see Sirius eating so much, "all you have to do now is keep it down and you'll be back to eating normally in no time," she added as she cleared the table and Sirius laughed. The others had already migrated back to the drawing room, Sirius had only stayed to finish off his third helping of the spaggetti and meatballs Molly and Emmeline had cooked for lunch.

"Is Remus alright dear? He looked a bit frazzled when he came in, and then he took barely any food and ate in his room," asked Molly frowning. Sirius grimaced but answered with an easy smile,

"He's fine, he just needed some time to think on his own," he told her.

"So it was about Nymphadora than." It wasn't a question, and Sirius had no choice other than to nod. "He'll come around," she said confidently before she headed up the stairs to the drawing room. Sirius laughed and followed her, reaching the room to find everyone in the same positions they had been in before lunch, with the exception of Remus who hadn't come down to join them yet and Tonks who had gone to the bathroom.

Sirius walked towards the big white lounge where Emmeline was waiting for him. He paused, not quite sure what he should do, his situation with Emmeline was a lot more complicated than either Harry or Remus knew. In the months before Marlene had died, Sirius and Emmeline had fallen in love, and he could happily say that he had wanted to marry her, but then Marlene had died, and something in their relationship died with her. They had fought more often, and over the silliest things like Emmeline yelling at Sirius for leaving the milk out overnight or Sirius yelling at Emmeline because he didn't want her fighting Death Eaters with the rest of the Order even though she was a talented duellist. It had gone on for nearly a month and a half after Marlene's death without anybody else knowing, until then, one day something snapped and they just couldn't deal with it anymore and they broke up. At that point Sirius hadn't thought his life could have gotten any worse, but then James and Lily died and he was thrown in Azkaban.

Sirius shook his head clearing it of the dark thoughts that had started to form. He looked back at Emmeline, who he noticed was giving him a strange look before glancing at Harry who nodded encouragingly. Sirius sighed and took his seat next to Emmeline. She looked down as he wrapped his hand around hers and smiled at him, he could feel his body leaning into hers and see her lips getting closer but before he could bring himself to kiss her,

BANG!

Tonks crashed to the floor, once again tripping over her own feet. She lay there mumbling obscenities to herself before moving into a sitting position, frowning at her legs.

"Are you alright Tonks?" asked Remus who had just entered the room and had seen her fall. He almost winced as her eyes lit up at the sight of him and every possible argument he had come up with over lunch of why he shouldn't be with her flew out the window as she smiled at him.

"Yes thank you, just my usual clumsiness," she blushed as he helped her to her feet. They made their way back over to their seats, Remus pointedly looking everywhere but Sirius and Harry, both of whom were snickering at him.

"So where were you at lunch?" asked Tonks crossing her legs under her.

"Um…I was in my room thinking about…something…" he trailed off lamely, elbowing Sirius in the ribs as he snorted in the seat next to him.

"Oh, well, did you-" but she was cut off as Bill grabbed the book off the coffee table.

"Since everybody's here, I'll read the next chapter" he said flipping to the right page, "**The Sorting Hat's****New Song**," he read as the younger members of the group frowned.

"That sounds ominous," whispered Hermione to Harry and Ron who nodded.

**Harry did not want to tell the others that he and Luna were having the same hallucination, **

"You're not hallucinating Harry," smiled Luna as the Twins snickered. Harry smiled at her but didn't say anything, he still wasn't quite sure what to make of her and he was curious to see how he had ended up friends with her in the first place.

**if that was what it was, so he said nothing more about the horses as he sat down inside the carriage and slammed the door behind him. Nevertheless, he could not help watching the silhouettes of the horses moving beyond the window.**

"Yeah it was a bit like that when we saw them," said Sirius, all he and the other two Marauders had been able to do was stare at them, both fascinated and horrified of what they were seeing.

**'Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?' asked Ginny. 'What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left, can he?'**

**'I'll be quite glad if he has,' said Luna, 'he isn't a very good teacher, is he?'**

"Yes he is!" objected Harry, Ron and Ginny.

**'Yes, he is!' said Harry, Ron and Ginny angrily.**

**Harry glared at Hermione. She cleared her throat and quickly said, 'Erm . . . yes . . . he's very good.'**

_Harry_ snickered as he watched his younger self glare at Hermione as well,

"Honestly Harry, you know I like him as a teacher," she snapped, _well, most of the time_, she added silently.

**'Well, we in Ravenclaw think he's a bit of a joke,' said Luna, unfazed.**

"Don't worry Luna, he has some pretty good classes this year," said _Ron_ smiling at Luna.

"Oh, that's good," she answered smiling serenely at the book as Hermione frowned.

**'You've got a rubbish sense of humour then,' Ron snapped, as the wheels below them creaked into motion.**

**Luna did not seem perturbed by Ron's rudeness; on the contrary, she simply watched him for a while as though he were a mildly interesting television programme.**

"Hey, I'm interesting," protested both Ron's.

"I don't know," teased Fred, "What you guys think?" he asked addressing the other teenagers.

"Sorry Ron, I think mildly interesting is pretty accurate," Ginny told him trying to keep a straight face while Hermione nodded, her face red from trying not to laugh at the look on Ron's face. Ron pouted then turned to Harry who shrugged, causing Ron to glare at him and the rest of the room to burst out laughing.

"Don't worry _Ron_, I think you're interesting," said _Harry _solemnly. _Ron_ smiled at his friend but stopped as _Harry_ continued, "but only when you're drunk," he added smirking as both Ron's glared at him and the room, laughed again. Once everybody had calmed down Bill took the opportunity to keep reading.

**Rattling and swaying, the carriages moved in convoy up the road. When they passed between the tall stone pillars topped with winged boars on either side of the gates to the school grounds, Harry leaned forwards to try and see whether there were any lights on in Hagrid's cabin by the Forbidden Forest, but the grounds were in complete darkness. Hogwarts Castle, however, loomed ever closer: a towering mass of turrets, jet black against the dark sky, here and there a window blazing fiery bright above them.**

"That actually makes it sound kind of intimidating," said Arthur as a few others nodded.

**The carriages jingled to a halt near the stone steps leading up to the oak front doors and Harry got out of the carriage first. He turned again to look for lit windows down by the Forest, but there was definitely no sign of life within Hagrid's cabin. Unwillingly, because he had half-hoped they would have vanished, he turned his eyes instead upon the strange, skeletal creatures standing quietly in the chill night air, their blank white eyes gleaming.**

Luna smiled at the description of the animals, Harry had a way of making them sound scary but they were really beautiful calm creatures and she was quite fond of them.

**Harry had once before had the experience of seeing something that Ron could not, but that had been a reflection in a mirror, something much more insubstantial than a hundred very solid-looking beasts strong enough to pull a fleet of carriages. If Luna was to be believed, the beasts had always been there but invisible. Why, then, could Harry suddenly see them, and why could Ron not?**

"Because I'm lucky enough not to have seen somebody kick the bucket," muttered Ron to himself, then wincing as Harry punched him lightly in the shoulder, "sorry," he muttered smiling sheepishly as Harry rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Bill.

**'Are you coming or what?' said Ron beside him.**

**'Oh . . . yeah,' said Harry quickly and they joined the crowd hurrying up the stone steps into the castle.**

**The Entrance Hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast.**

"That always was the best kind of feast," said Sirius brightly.

"Yeah, I can remember you stuffing your face at every one of them," laughed Remus, letting Sirius know he was forgiven.

**The four long house tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes. Again, Harry noticed people putting their heads together to whisper as he passed; he gritted his teeth and tried to act as though he neither noticed nor cared.**

"That's the spirit Pup," said Sirius ruffling Harry's hair, trying to take his mind off it, but Harry frowned, so it was obviously not working.

**Luna drifted away from them at the Ravenclaw table. The moment they reached Gryffindor's, Ginny was hailed by some fellow fourth-years and left to sit with them; Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville found seats together about halfway down the table between Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost, and Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, the last two of whom gave Harry airy, overly-friendly greetings that made him quite sure they had stopped talking about him a split second before. **

Harry groaned covering his face with his hands before leaning his head back and resting it on Sirius's knees. Sirius tensed as he looked at Harry before slowly brushing his hair off his forehead, revealing the scar underneath. Sirius sighed, he had seen James do that nearly every time that Lily rejected him and for a second he was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, but seeing the scar broke the spell and he found himself back in the drawing room. Harry turned as he felt Sirius relax, guessing he must have done something that his father had done before him,

"Are you okay?" Harry asked him quietly making Remus frown at his friend.

"I'm fine Harry," Sirius replied smiling weakly. Harry frowned ever so slightly but nodded before turning around to listen to Bill.

**He had more important things to worry about, however: he was looking over the students' heads to the staff table that ran along the top wall of the Hall.**

**'He's not there.'**

"He'll be fine," Ginny said confidently as the others nodded in agreement.

**Ron and Hermione scanned the staff table too, though there was no real need; Hagrid's size made him instantly obvious in any lineup.**

**'He can't have left,' said Ron, sounding slightly anxious.**

**'Of course he hasn't,' said Harry firmly.**

**'You don't think he's . . . hurt, or anything, do you?' said Hermione uneasily.**

**'No,' said Harry at once.**

**'But where is he, then?'**

**There was a pause, then Harry said very quietly, so that Neville, Parvati and Lavender could not hear, 'Maybe he's not back yet. You know - from his mission - the thing he was doing over the summer for Dumbledore.'**

"You know what, it's amazing how you three always end up knowing all this stuff," said Tonks throwing her hands up in the air making the room laugh, even Sirius who was still a bit shaken, much to the delight of Molly and both Harry's.

**'Yeah . . . yeah, that'll be it,' said Ron, sounding reassured, but Hermione bit her lip, looking up and down the staff table as though hoping for some conclusive explanation of Hagrid's absence.**

"I'll feel better when I see him," said Hermione to herself.

**'Who's that?' she said sharply, pointing towards the middle of the staff table.**

**Harry's eyes followed hers. They lit first upon Professor Dumbledore, sitting in his high-backed golden chair at the centre of the long staff table, wearing deep-purple robes scattered with silvery stars and a matching hat. Dumbledore's head was inclined towards the woman sitting next to him, who was talking into his ear. She looked, Harry thought, like somebody's maiden aunt: squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. **

"I knew it!" cried Remus glaring at the book.

"What?" asked Sirius coming out his funk at Remus's exclamation.

"It's Umbridge, she was being mentioned too much and in too much detail in the earlier chapters not to come up later, and now here she is," he growled.

"Wait, so you worked that out from plot details rather than actual information," questioned Tonks before Sirius could reply.

"'Course he did, with the amount of reading he's done he could probably tell you how it's going to end too," Sirius answered for Remus who glared at him for interrupting.

"Please don't tell us Professor, I don't want to spoil it," pleaded Luna, her eyes wide and fixed on Remus.

"Of course I won't Luna," Remus told her, smiling kindly while some of the others snickered.

"Hang on, can we get back to the fact that Dumbledore actually hired this woman?" said Fred frowning at the book. "No offence sir," he added hastily when he remembered that Dumbledore was in the room.

Dumbledore chuckled before answering, "I know what you meant Mr Weasley, and I can assure you that no offence was taken."

**Then she turned her face slightly to take a sip from her goblet and he saw, with a shock of recognition, a pallid, toadlike face and a pair of prominent, pouchy eyes.**

**'It's that Umbridge woman!'**

_Harry_ and _Ron_ glared menacingly at the book.

**'Who?' said Hermione.**

**'She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!'**

**'Nice cardigan,' said Ron, smirking.**

"Don't let the pink fool you," grumbled _Ron_ ignoring the funny looks he was given.

**'She works for Fudge!' Hermione repeated, frowning. 'What on earth's she doing here, then?'**

**'Dunno . . .'**

**Hermione scanned the staff table, her eyes narrowed.**

**'No,' she muttered, 'no, surely not . . .'**

"Please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means," said Hermione glaring at the book.

"I'm afraid it does Miss Granger," replied Dumbledore sombrely.

"They can't do that!" she cried in outrage.

"Unfortunately it seems they can," growled Moody as the Order members nodded scowling at the book.

"What are you talking about? What does what mean?" asked Ron thoroughly confused.

"Umbridge being there, it means that the Ministry is interfering with Hogwarts," Hermione told him her eyes narrowing.

**Harry did not understand what she was talking about but did not ask; his attention had been caught by Professor Grubbly-Plank who had just appeared behind the staff table; she worked her way along to the very end and took the seat that ought to have been Hagrid's. That meant the first-years must have crossed the lake and reached the castle, and sure enough, a few seconds later, the doors from the Entrance Hall opened. A long line of scared-looking first-years entered, led by Professor McGonagall, who was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizards hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim.**

"You know, that was only the third sorting I had ever been to," commented _Harry_ absently.

**The buzz of talk in the Great Hall faded away. The first-years lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the students, and Professor McGonagall placed the stool carefully in front of them, then stood back.**

**The first-years' faces glowed palely in the candlelight. A small boy right in the middle of the row looked as though he was trembling. Harry recalled, fleetingly, how terrified he had felt when he had stood there, waiting for the unknown test that would determine to which house he belonged.**

"They really should explain it a bit," said Molly frowning.

"Now Molly, where would be the fun in that?" replied Remus, a mischievous smirk on his face. Sirius laughed at her indignant expression, it seemed like it wasn't just the old Padfoot this book was bringing back.

**The whole school waited with bated breath. Then the rip near the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth and the Sorting Hat burst into song:**

_**In times of old when I was new**_

_**And Hogwarts barely started**_

_**The founders of our noble school**_

_**Thought never to be parted:**_

_**United by a common goal,**_

_**They had the selfsame yearning,**_

_**To make the world's best magic school**_

_**And pass along their learning.**_

_**'Together we will build and teach!'**_

_**The four good friends decided**_

_**And never did they dream that they**_

_**Might someday be divided,**_

_**For were there such friends anywhere**_

_**As Slytherin and Gryffindor?**_

_**Unless it was the second pair**_

_**Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?**_

_**So how could it have gone so wrong?**_

_**How could such friendships fail?**_

_**Why, I was there and so can tell**_

_**The whole sad, sorry tale.**_

_**Said Slytherin, 'We'll teach just those**_

_**Whose ancestry is purest.'**_

_**Said Ravenclaw, 'We'll teach those whose**_

_**Intelligence is surest.'**_

_**Said Gryffindor, 'We'll teach all those**_

_**With brave deeds to their name,'**_

_**Said Hufflepuff, 'I'll teach the lot,**_

_**And treat them just the same.'**_

_**These differences caused little strife**_

_**When first they came to light,**_

_**For each of the four founders had**_

_**A house in which they might**_

_**Take only those they wanted, so,**_

_**For instance, Slytherin**_

_**Took only pure-blood wizards**_

_**Of great cunning, just like him,**_

_**And only those of sharpest mind**_

_**Were taught by Ravenclaw**_

_**While the bravest and the boldest**_

_**Went to daring Gryffindor.**_

_**Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,**_

_**And taught them all she knew,**_

_**Thus the houses and their founders**_

_**Retained friendships firm and true.**_

_**So Hogwarts worked in harmony**_

_**For several happy years,**_

_**But then discord crept among us**_

_**Feeding on our faults and fears.**_

_**The houses that, like pillars four,**_

_**Had once held up our school,**_

_**Now turned upon each other and,**_

_**Divided, sought to rule.**_

_**And for a while it seemed the school**_

_**Must meet an early end,**_

_**What with duelling and with fighting**_

_**And the clash of friend on friend**_

_**And at last there came c morning**_

_**When old Slytherin departed**_

_**And though the fighting then died out**_

_**He left us quite downhearted.**_

_**And never since the founders four**_

_**Were whittled down to three**_

_**Have the houses been united**_

_**As they once were meant to be.**_

_**And now the Sorting Hat is here**_

_**And you all know the score:**_

_**I sort you into houses**_

_**Because that is what I'm for,**_

_**But this year I'll go further,**_

_**Listen closely to my song:**_

_**Though condemned I am to split you**_

_**Still I worry that it's wrong,**_

_**Though I must fulfil my duty**_

_**And must quarter every year**_

_**Still I wonder whether Sorting**_

_**May not bring the end I fear.**_

_**Oh, know the perils, read the signs,**_

_**The warning history shows,**_

_**For our Hogwarts is in danger**_

_**From external, deadly foes**_

_**And we must unite inside her**_

_**Or we'll crumble from within**_

_**I have told you, I have warned you . . .**_

_**Let the Sorting now begin.**_

**The Hat became motionless once more; applause broke out, though it was punctured, for the first time in Harry's memory, with muttering and whispers. **

"That sounds more like what it said during the Sorting's just before we graduated," said Sirius frowning as Remus and Emmeline nodded.

**All across the Great Hall students were exchanging remarks with their neighbours, and Harry, clapping along with everyone else, knew exactly what they were talking about.**

**'Branched out a bit this year, hasn't it?' said Ron, his eyebrows raised.**

**Too right it has,' said Harry.**

**The Sorting Hat usually confined itself to describing the different qualities looked for by each of the four Hogwarts houses and its own role in Sorting them. Harry could not remember it ever trying to give the school advice before.**

"It never needed to before," commented Luna.

**'I wonder if it's ever given warnings before?' said Hermione, sounding slightly anxious.**

**'Yes, indeed,' said Nearly Headless Nick knowledgeably, leaning across Neville towards her (Neville winced; it was very uncomfortable to have a ghost lean through you). The Hat feels itself honour-bound to give the school due warning whenever it feels - '**

"It did it during the whole Grindewald fiasco as well," said Arthur not noticing Dumbledore's eyes darken at the mention of his old friend.

"Really?" asked Hermione looking interested, but both versions of Harry and Ron urged Bill to keep reading before anyone could explain further.

**But Professor McGonagall, who was waiting to read out the list of first-years' names, was giving the whispering students the sort of look that scorches. Nearly Headless Nick placed a see-through finger to his lips and sat primly upright again as the muttering came to an abrupt end. With a last frowning look that swept the four house tables, Professor McGonagall lowered her eyes to her long piece of parchment and called out the first name.**

**'Abercrombie, Euan.'**

**The terrified-looking boy Harry had noticed earlier stumbled forwards and put the Hat on his head; it was only prevented from falling right down to his shoulders by his very prominent ears. The Hat considered for a moment, then the rip near the brim opened again and shouted:**

**'Gryffindor!'**

"Whoo!" cried the Twins and Sirius while Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius and the others laughed.

**Harry clapped loudly with the rest of Gryffindor house as Euan Abercrombie staggered to their table and sat down, looking as though he would like very much to sink through the floor and never be looked at again.**

"I know the feeling," mumbled Harry to himself.

**Slowly, the long line of first-years thinned. In the pauses between the names and the Sorting Hat's decisions, Harry could hear Ron's stomach rumbling loudly. **

"What, those things take forever and we've been on the train all day," defended Ron as Harry snickered, ducking as Ron tried to swat at his head.

**Finally, 'Zeller, Rose' was Sorted into Hufflepuff, and Professor McGonagall picked up the Hat and stool and marched them away as Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet.**

**Whatever his recent bitter feelings had been towards his Headmaster, Harry was somehow soothed to see Dumbledore standing before them all. **

Dumbledore sighed as Harry's eyes narrowed at the book.

**Between the absence of Hagrid and the presence of those dragonish horses, he had felt that his return to Hogwarts, so long anticipated, was full of unexpected surprises, like jarring notes in a familiar song. But this, at least, was how it was supposed to be: their Headmaster rising to greet them all before the start-of-term feast.**

**'To our newcomers,' said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, 'welcome! To our old hands - welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, but this is not it. Tuck in!'**

"Finally," groaned Ron.

"You know it's nowhere near dinner time right?" asked Harry raising an eyebrow at his best friend.

"Shut up Harry," was his only reply.

**There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore sat down neatly and threw his long beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of the way of his plate - for food had appeared out of nowhere, so that the five long tables were groaning under joints and pies and dishes of vegetables, bread and sauces and flagons of pumpkin juice.**

**'Excellent,' said Ron, with a kind of groan of longing, and he seized the nearest plate of chops and began piling them on to his plate, watched wistfully by Nearly Headless Nick.**

**'What were you saying before the Sorting?' Hermione asked the ghost. 'About the Hat giving warnings?'**

**'Oh, yes,' said Nick, who seemed glad of a reason to turn away from Ron, who was now eating roast potatoes with almost indecent enthusiasm. 'Yes, I have heard the Hat give several warnings before, always at times when it detects periods of great danger for the school. And always, of course, its advice is the same: stand together, be strong from within.'**

**'Ow kunnit nofe skusin danger ifzat?' said Ron.**

"Don't speak with your mouth full Ronald," chided Molly.

**His mouth was so full Harry thought it was quite an achievement for him to make any noise at all.**

"Honestly Ronald," said Hermione, her nose wrinkled in disgusted.

**'I beg your pardon?' said Nearly Headless Nick politely, while Hermione looked revolted. Ron gave an enormous swallow and said, 'How can it know if the school's in danger if it's a Hat?'**

"That's a good question Weasley," said Moody.

**'I have no idea,' said Nearly Headless Nick. 'Of course, it lives in Dumbledore's office, so I daresay it picks things up there.'**

**'And it wants all the houses to be friends?' said Harry, looking over at the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy was holding court. 'Fat chance.'**

**'Well, now, you shouldn't take that attitude,' said Nick reprovingly. 'Peaceful co-operation, that's the key. We ghosts, though we belong to separate houses, maintain links of friendship. In spite of the competitiveness between Gryffindor and Slytherin, I would never dream of seeking an argument with the Bloody Baron.'**

"Yes well not too many people would," laughed Arthur.

**'Only because you're terrified of him,' said Ron.**

"Don't tell him that!" said Emmeline, "It's rude," she added as Ron blushed.

**Nearly Headless Nick looked highly affronted.**

**Terrified? I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in my life! The noble blood that runs in my veins -'**

**'What blood?' asked Ron. 'Surely you haven't still got - ?'**

"Ron, stop while you're ahead," said Tonks shaking her head in her hands.

**'It's a figure of speech!' said Nearly Headless Nick, now so annoyed his head was trembling ominously on his partially severed neck. 'I assume I am still allowed to enjoy the use of whichever words I like, even if the pleasures of eating and drinking are denied me! But I am quite used to students poking fun at my death, I assure you!'**

"I'm not poking fun at his death!" yelled Ron.

**'Nick, he wasn't really laughing at you!' said Hermione, throwing a furious look at Ron.**

**Unfortunately, Ron's mouth was packed to exploding point again and all he could manage was 'Node iddum eentup sechew,' which Nick did not seem to think constituted an adequate apology. Rising into the air, he straightened his feathered hat and swept away from them to the other end of the table, coming to rest between the Creevey brothers, Colin and Dennis.**

**'Well done, Ron,' snapped Hermione**

**'What?' said Ron indignantly, having managed, finally, to swallow his food. 'I'm not allowed to ask a simple question?'**

**'Oh, forget it,' said Hermione irritably, and the pair of them spent the rest of the meal in huffy silence.**

"Of course you did," sighed Harry as Ron and Hermione turned their glares onto him.

"Hey don't look at mini me like that, you're even worse in the future," cried _Harry_.

"We are not!" exclaimed _Ron_ indignantly.

"Then why did you end up on my couch last time," whispered _Harry_ so the others couldn't hear as _Ron_ glared at him. Bill decided that this was the perfect time to start reading again as he could no longer hear what _Harry_ and _Ron _were saying, but from the smirk on _Harry's_ face it was something funny.

**Harry was too used to their bickering to bother trying to reconcile them; he felt it was a better use of his time to eat his way steadily through his steak and kidney pie, then a large plateful of his favourite treacle tart.**

"Can we have it for dinner?" asked Harry hopefully.

"We'll see," smiled Molly, obviously if she wanted to fatten Harry up, all she need to do was just keep feeding him treacle tart.

**When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the Hall was starting to creep upwards again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the Headmaster. Harry was feeling pleasantly drowsy now. His four-poster bed was waiting somewhere above, wonderfully warm and soft…**

**'Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices,' said Dumbledore. 'First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students - and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too,' (Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged smirks).**

"And just how many times have you been in the Forest?" asked Molly glaring at the three of them.

"Uhh…keep reading Bill," ordered Ron effectively changing the subject. Bill rolled his eyes and continued.

**'Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr Filch's office door.**

"And it's only going to get longer," laughed _Ron_ mysteriously, winking at the Twins.

**'We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.'**

**There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause, during which Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged slightly panicked looks; Dumbledore had not said for how long Grubbly-Plank would be teaching.**

**Dumbledore continued, 'Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the -'**

**He broke off, looking enquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat, 'Hem, hem,' **

_Harry_ and _Ron_ shuddered, that had to be the worst noise in the history of worst noises and they had have to put up with it for a year.

**and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.**

**Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Harry had ever seen it. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.**

"Oh, she probably just doesn't care," muttered Remus once again glaring at the book. Seeing the look on his face, Tonks took the opportunity to give his hand a squeeze and was delighted when he squeezed back.

**Thank you, Headmaster,' Professor Umbridge simpered, 'for those kind words of welcome.'**

**Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and little-girlish and, again, Harry felt a powerful rush of dislike that he could not explain to himself; all he knew was that he loathed everything about her, from her stupid voice to her fluffy pink cardigan. **

"She's worse than Voldemort," _Harry_ whispered to _Ron_ who nodded very seriously.

**She gave another little throat-clearing cough ('hem, hem') and continued.**

**'Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!' She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. 'And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!'**

**Harry glanced around. None of the faces he could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.**

"That's it, I officially hate her already," said Tonks, glad that she had never met the woman in person.

**'I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!'**

The Twins gagged at the thought.

**Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins.**

**'I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan,' Parvati whispered to Lavender, and both of them lapsed into silent giggles.**

**Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ('hem, hem'), **

"That's already starting to annoy me," muttered Tonks to Remus who nodded, it was just another thing to add to his list of things he couldn't stand about the woman.

**but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.**

"Oh joy, she'll be worse than Binns than," said Ron causing Hermione to smack him and _Ron_ to laugh at his younger self.

**The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born**

"Oh, so we're born with them now are we," muttered _Ron_ darkly thinking of the Muggle-born registration system Umbridge had been in charge of.

**may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them for ever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching.'**

"So not you than," said Remus scathingly, from what he knew about Umbridge, which unfortunately was a lot, she was no teacher.

**Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back to her. Professor McGonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawklike, and Harry distinctly saw her exchange a significant glance with Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little 'hem, hem' and went on with her speech.**

"How long was she talking for?" asked Bill interrupting himself to look at _Harry _and _Ron_ both of whom were in a heated discussion, that he only caught the end of;

"No, _Harry_ and you know who much I want to, but it's not exactly legal…" trailed off _Ron_ as he realised Bill had been speaking to them.

"What's not legal?" asked Molly sternly.

"Nothing Mum," said _Ron_ hastily as he wacked _Harry_ in the shoulder. "Um, I don't know but it felt like hours," he added, answering his brother's question.

**'Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, **

"That doesn't even make sense!" cried Hermione and Remus, both looking equally outraged, the whole point of getting an education was to make progress.

**for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation . . .'**

**Harry found his attentiveness ebbing, as though his brain was slipping in and out of tune. The quiet that always filled the Hall when Dumbledore was speaking was breaking up as students put their heads together, whispering and giggling. Over on the Ravenclaw table Cho Chang was chatting animatedly with her friends. **

Sirius winked at Harry who glared at him blushing, but then Harry smirked and looked pointedly at Sirius and Emmeline's entwined hands, in turn making Sirius blush and send back a glare of his own.

**A few seats along from Cho, Luna Lovegood had got out The Quibbler again. Meanwhile, at the Hufflepuff table Ernie Macmillan was one of the few still staring at Professor Umbridge, but he was glassy-eyed and Harry was sure he was only pretending to listen in an attempt to live up to the new prefect's badge gleaming on his chest.**

Sirius laughed quietly, that sounded a lot like what James had done when he had gotten his Head Boy badge. Remus smiled to sensing what Sirius was thinking about, the only thing that had ever gotten James's attention during a speech like this had been Lily and even then he would be concentrating on her rather than whoever was talking at the time.

**Professor Umbridge did not seem to notice the restlessness of her audience. Harry had the impression that a full-scale riot could have broken out under her nose and she would have ploughed on with her speech. The teachers, however, were still listening very attentively, and Hermione seemed to be drinking in every word Umbridge spoke, though, judging by her expression, they were not at all to her taste.**

**'. . . because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited.'**

"Did anybody else understand that?" asked Fred yawning.

"I was reading it and I didn't understand it," said Bill thumbing the next page of the book.

**She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Harry noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.**

"Not that anyone would have anyway," said George.

**Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating,' he said,**

"That's one way to put it," said Emmeline once again had her head leaning on Sirius's shoulder, looking as though she was about to fall asleep.

"Careful Em, this shirt is new and I don't want drool on it," laughed Sirius in her ear. She glared at him before sitting up and hitting him lightly on the shoulder.

"I don't drool," she said waspishly as he raised his hands in surrender.

**bowing to her. 'Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held . . .'**

**'Yes, it certainly was illuminating,' said Hermione in a low voice.**

**'You're not telling me you enjoyed it?' Ron said quietly, turning a glazed face towards Hermione. That was about the dullest speech I've ever heard, and I grew up with Percy.'**

"You know that's still true," said _Ron_ tilting his head slightly to the side.

"What about that one-" began _Harry_ but _Ron_ laughed cutting him off.

"That doesn't count cause it was Hermione and it was about, well it don't remember what it was about but still," he said ignoring the glare coming from Hermione across the room.

**'I said illuminating, not enjoyable,' said Hermione. 'It explained a lot.'**

**'Did it?' said Harry in surprise. 'Sounded like a load of waffle to me.'**

**There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle,' said Hermione grimly.**

**'Was there?' said Ron blankly.**

**'How about: "progress for progress's sake must be discouraged"? How about: "pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited"?'**

"And that means?" asked Ron causing Bill to laugh slightly as he read,

**'Well, what does that mean?' said Ron impatiently.**

Ron blushed as the rest of the room chuckled.

**'I'll tell you what it means,' said Hermione through gritted teeth. 'It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts.'**

**There was a great clattering and banging all around them; Dumbledore had obviously just dismissed the school, because everyone was standing up ready to leave the Hall. Hermione jumped up, looking flustered.**

**'Ron, we're supposed to show the first-years where to go!'**

**'Oh yeah,' said Ron, who had obviously forgotten. 'Hey - hey, you lot! Midgets!'**

"Ron!" cried Molly and Hermione.

**'Ron!'**

**'Well, they are, they're titchy . . .'**

"That doesn't mean you can call them midgets," scolded Molly.

**'I know, but you can't call them midgets! - First-years!' Hermione called commandingly along the table. 'This way, please!'**

**A group of new students walked shyly up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, all of them trying hard not to lead the group. They did indeed seem very small; Harry was sure he had not appeared that young when he had arrived here. **

Fred, George, Hermione and both Ron's snorted as both Harry's mock pouted and simultaneously stuck their tongues out.

"Freaky," said Ginny with a grin as Harry grinned back at her.

**He grinned at them. A blond boy next to Euan Abercrombie looked petrified; he nudged Euan and whispered something in his ear. Euan Abercrombie looked equally frightened and stole a horrified look at Harry, who felt the grin slide off his face like Stinksap.**

"Great, now the first years are scared of me," said Harry dejectedly.

"Don't worry Pup, they'll come around," said Sirius soothingly as Harry turned and smiled weakly at him.

**'See you later,' he said dully to Ron and Hermione and he made his way out of the Great Hall alone, doing everything he could to ignore more whispering, staring and pointing as he passed. He kept his eyes fixed ahead as he wove his way through the crowd in the Entrance Hall, then he hurried up the marble staircase, took a couple of concealed short cuts and had soon left most of the crowds behind.**

"Which I found without the Map," said _Harry_ proudly trying to take his younger self's mind off what was happening in the book. It worked as Sirius as well as Remus beamed and Harry laughed at the looks on their faces.

**He had been stupid not to expect this, he thought angrily as he walked through the much emptier upstairs corridors. Of course everyone was staring at him; he had emerged from the Triwizard maze two months previously clutching the dead body of a fellow student and claiming to have seen Lord Voldemort return to power. **

Harry flinched and Sirius had to restrain himself from pulling Harry into his lap again.

**There had not been time last term to explain himself before they'd all had to go home - even if he had felt up to giving the whole school a detailed account of the terrible events in that graveyard.**

Hermione frowned to herself, _maybe there was something to that_, she thought as Harry began to look thoroughly depressed at the reminder.

**Harry had reached the end of the corridor to the Gryffindor common room and come to a halt in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady before he realised that he did not know the new password.**

_Great_, thought Harry, as he resisted the urge to bang his head on the coffee table.

**'Er . . .' he said glumly, staring up at the Fat Lady, who smoothed the folds of her pink satin dress and looked sternly back at him.**

**'No password, no entrance,' she said loftily.**

**'Harry, I know it!' Someone panted up behind him and he turned to see Neville jogging towards him. 'Guess what it is? I'm actually going to be able to remember it for once - ' He waved the stunted little cactus he had shown them on the train. 'Mimbuius mimbletonia!'**

Harry and Ron laughed good naturedly at their friend's enthusiasm.

"He was bound to get it one day," laughed Harry, his mood once again rapidly changing.

**'Correct,' said the Fat Lady, and her portrait swung open towards them like a door, revealing a circular hole in the wall behind, through which Harry and Neville now climbed.**

**The Gryffindor common room looked as welcoming as ever, a cosy circular tower room full of dilapidated squashy armchairs and rickety old tables. A fire was crackling merrily in the grate and a few people were warming their hands by it before going up to their dormitories; on the other side of the room Fred and George Weasley were pinning something up on the noticeboard. **

Molly narrowed her eyes at the Twins who avoided her look and tried to look innocent.

**Harry waved goodnight to them and headed straight for the door to the boys' dormitories; he was not in much of a mood for talking at the moment. Neville followed him.**

**Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had reached the dormitory first and were in the process of covering the walls beside their beds with posters and photographs. They had been talking as Harry pushed open the door but stopped abruptly the moment they saw him. Harry wondered whether they had been talking about him, then whether he was being paranoid.**

"They were talking about you," said Luna looking at Harry.

"How do you know?" asked George but Luna just shrugged and didn't answer.

**'Hi,' he said, moving across to his own trunk and opening it.**

**'Hey, Harry,' said Dean, who was putting on a pair of pyjamas in the West Ham colours. 'Good holiday?'**

"At least he still likes me," said Harry looking hopeful, it would be so much more bearable if his dorm mates believed him.

**'Not bad,' muttered Harry, as a true account of his holiday would have taken most of the night to relate and he could not face it. 'You?'**

**'Yeah, it was OK,' chuckled Dean. 'Better than Seamus's, anyway, he was just telling me.'**

**'Why, what happened, Seamus?' Neville asked as he placed his Mimbuius mimbletonia tenderly on his bedside cabinet.**

**Seamus did not answer immediately; **

_Or not,_ thought Harry grimly.

**he was making rather a meal of ensuring that his poster of the Kenmare Kestrels Quidditch team was quite straight. Then he said, with his back still turned to Harry, 'Me mam didn't want me to come back.'**

"Hogwarts is the safest place anywhere, why wouldn't she want him to come back?" asked Ginny as the adults grimaced, this was one of the reasons why the children weren't allowed in the Order thought Molly, they didn't understand how things worked in the outside world yet.

**'What?' said Harry, pausing in the act of pulling off his robes.**

**'She didn't want me to come back to Hogwarts.'**

**Seamus turned away from his poster and pulled his own pyjamas out of his trunk, still not looking at Harry.**

**'But - why?' said Harry, astonished. He knew that Seamus's mother was a witch and could not understand, therefore, why she should have come over so Dursleyish.**

_Ron_ chuckled in spite of the atmosphere in the book before mumbling quietly to _Harry_,

"Remind me to Google that when we get home, I want to see if anything comes up."

**Seamus did not answer until he had finished buttoning his pyjamas.**

**'Well,' he said in a measured voice, 'I suppose . . . because of you.'**

"Me?" yelled Harry.

**'What d'you mean?' said Harry quickly.**

**His heart was beating rather fast. He felt vaguely as though something was closing in on him.**

**Well,' said Seamus again, still avoiding Harry's eye, 'she . . . er . . . well, it's not just you, it's Dumbledore, too . . .'**

"Bloody Prophet," he mumbled to himself.

"Easy Harry, you'll burn a whole in Sirius's nice new furniture with a glare like that," said Hermione squeezing Harry's hand causing a pang of jealousy to surge through Ron, but he pushed it away, he didn't need to be thinking about that now, supporting Harry was more important at the moment and Ron was determined to make up for last year during the tournament.

**'She believes the Daily Prophet?' said Harry. 'She thinks I'm a liar and Dumbledore's an old fool?'**

**Seamus looked up at him.**

**'Yeah, something like that.'**

**Harry said nothing. He threw his wand down on to his bedside table, pulled off his robes, stuffed them angrily into his trunk and pulled on his pyjamas. He was sick of it: sick of being the person who is stared at and talked about all the time. If any of them knew, if any of them had the faintest idea what it felt like to be the one all these things had happened to . . . Mrs Finnigan had no idea, the stupid woman, he thought savagely.**

"Harry," scolded Molly lightly, there was no need to be rude, well there was, but still…

**He got into bed and made to pull the hangings closed around him, but before he could do so, Seamus said, 'Look . . . what did happen that night when . . . you know, when . . . with Cedric Diggory and all?'**

Sirius growled, why couldn't people just leave Harry alone? Was it too much to ask after everything his godson had been through?

**Seamus sounded nervous and eager at the same time. Dean, who had been bending over his trunk trying to retrieve a slipper, went oddly still and Harry knew he was listening hard.**

**'What are you asking me for?' Harry retorted. 'Just read the Daily Prophet like your mother, why don't you? That'll tell you all you need to know.'**

**'Don't you have a go at my mother,' Seamus snapped.**

"I'll have a go a anyone who calls me a liar," growled Harry at the exact same time as Bill read,

**'I'll have a go at anyone who calls me a liar,' said Harry.**

"Okay, that was creepy," laughed the Twins trying to get Harry to smile, but were unsuccessful.

**'Don't talk to me like that!'**

**'I'll talk to you how I want,' said Harry, his temper rising so fast he snatched his wand back from his bedside table. 'If you've got a problem sharing a dormitory with me, go and ask McGonagall if you can be moved . . . stop your mummy worrying - '**

**'Leave my mother out of this, Potter!'**

**'What's going on?'**

"Oh good, you'll be able to do something before it gets out of hand," breathed Molly.

**Ron had appeared in the doorway. His wide eyes travelled from Harry, who was kneeling on his bed with his wand pointing at Seamus, to Seamus, who was standing there with his fists raised.**

"He better not try to hit you," growled Sirius.

"He doesn't, don't worry," replied _Harry_ in a calm voice.

**'He's having a go at my mother!' Seamus yelled.**

**What?' said Ron. 'Harry wouldn't do that - we met your mother, we liked her . . .'**

**'That's before she started believing every word the stinking Daily Prophet writes about me!' said Harry at the top of his voice.**

"Calm down Cub," said Remus listening to Harry's heartbeat. Harry nodded and took a deep breath; it wouldn't do to blow up now, after all this hadn't happened yet.

**'Oh,' said Ron, comprehension dawning across his freckled face. 'Oh . . . right.'**

**'You know what?' said Seamus heatedly, casting Harry a venomous look. 'He's right, I don't want to share a dormitory with him anymore, he's mad.'**

Remus and Sirius growled while Ron and Hermione glared at the book, Seamus has known Harry five years, how could he say that!

**'That's out of order, Seamus,' said Ron, whose ears were starting to glow red - always a danger sign.**

**'Out of order, am I?' shouted Seamus, who in contrast with Ron was going pale. 'You believe all the rubbish he's come out with about You-Know-Who, do you, you reckon he's telling the truth?'**

"Of course I do!" yelled Ron without a moment's hesitation and Harry smiled slightly at Ron who grinned back.

**'Yeah, I do!' said Ron angrily.**

**'Then you're mad, too,' said Seamus in disgust.**

**'Yeah? Well, unfortunately for you, pal, I'm also a prefect!' said Ron, jabbing himself in the chest with a finger. 'So unless you want detention, watch your mouth!'**

"Way-to-go Ron," cheered the Twins as the two Weasley elders smiled proudly at their youngest son whose ears turned red at the praise.

**Seamus looked for a few seconds as though detention would be a reasonable price to pay to say what was going through his mind; but with a noise of contempt he turned on his heel, vaulted into bed and pulled the hangings shut with such violence that they were ripped from the bed and fell in a dusty pile to the floor. Ron glared at Seamus, then looked at Dean and Neville.**

**'Anyone else's parents got a problem with Harry?' he said aggressively.**

**'My parents are Muggles, mate,' said Dean, shrugging. They don't know nothing about no deaths at Hogwarts, because I'm not stupid enough to tell them.'**

Molly frowned; children shouldn't have to keep secrets from their parents

**'You don't know my mother, she'd weasel anything out of anyone!' Seamus snapped at him. 'Anyway, your parents don't get the Daily Prophet. They don't know our Headmaster's been sacked from the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards because he's losing his marbles - '**

**'My gran says that's rubbish,' piped up Neville. 'She says it's the Daily Prophet that's going downhill, not Dumbledore. She's cancelled our subscription. We believe Harry,' said Neville simply. He climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to his chin, looking owlishly over them at Seamus. 'My grans always said You-Know-Who would come back one day. She says if Dumbledore says he's back, he's back.'**

"Remind me to say thank you to Neville," Harry told Ron and Hermione who both nodded.

**Harry felt a rush of gratitude towards Neville. Nobody else said anything. Seamus got out his wand, repaired the bed hangings and vanished behind them. Dean got into bed, rolled over and fell silent. Neville, who appeared to have nothing more to say either, was gazing fondly at his moonlit cactus.**

"You may want to keep an eye on that, his mum was a bit dodgy towards plants like that too," laughed Sirius.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," scolded Emmeline flicking him on the nose.

"That wasn't what I meant and you know it," he replied taping her on the forehead.

"If you two are done," commented Moody resulting in the two of them blushing almost Weasley red.

**Harry lay back on his pillows while Ron bustled around the next bed, putting his things away. He fell, shaken by the argument with Seamus, whom he had always liked very much. How many more people were going to suggest that he was lying, or unhinged?**

**Had Dumbledore suffered like this all summer, as first the Wizengamot, then the International Confederation of Wizards had thrown him from their ranks? Was it anger at Harry, perhaps, that had stopped Dumbledore getting in touch with him for months? **

"Most certainly not," said Dumbledore sternly to Harry's nose.

**The two of them were in this together, after all; Dumbledore had believed Harry, announced his version of events to the whole school and then to the wider wizarding community. Anyone who thought Harry was a liar had to think that Dumbledore was, too, or else that Dumbledore had been hoodwinked . . .**

**They'll know we're right in the end, thought Harry miserably, **

"Eventually, only a year remember," said Hermione, referring to what the two time-travellers had told them earlier.

**as Ron got into bed and extinguished the last candle in the dormitory. But he wondered how many more attacks like Seamus's he would have to endure before that time came.**

"And that's the end of the chapter, who wants to read next?" asked Bill as he turned the page to the next chapter.

"I will," said Kingsley causing those who had forgotten he was there to jump at the sound of his deep voice. Then in a loud clear voice he read, "**Professor Umbridge**."

_Here we go again _thought _Harry_.


	18. Professor Umbridge

**I do not own Harry Potter and anything you may recognise or is in bold is the work of the wonderful JKRowling. Sorry for not updating guys im in the middle of assessments and have had Uni stuff on my mind. And now for the moment you've probably all been waiting for...the groups reaction to Professor Umbridge...**

**Please review :)**

* * *

"**Professor Umbridge**," read Kingsley as many around the room groaned and _Harry_ had to resist banging his head repeatedly on the coffee table in front of him, he _really_ wasn't looking forward to this chapter.

**Seamus dressed at top speed next morning and left the dormitory before Harry had even put on his socks.**

**'Does he think he'll turn into a nutter if he stays in a room with me too long?' asked Harry loudly as the hem of Seamus's robes whipped out of sight.**

"Probably, look what happen to me and Hermione," laughed _Ron_ as _Harry _elbowed him in the ribs.

**'Don't worry about it, Harry,' Dean muttered, hoisting his schoolbag on to his shoulder, 'he's just . . .'**

"Needs a good slap in the head," muttered Sirius to himself, careful not to let Molly hear. Unfortunately he didn't count for Emmeline, who slapped him in the back of the head.

**But apparently he was unable to say exactly what Seamus was, and after a slightly awkward pause followed him out of the room.**

**Neville and Ron both gave Harry an it's-his-problem-not-yours look, but Harry was not much consoled. How much more of this would he have to take?**

"You'll always have to take it," Remus said simply as Harry frowned. He didn't want to have to take it, but that was the price of being so well known, of being a celebrity.

**'What's the matter?' asked Hermione five minutes later, catching up with Harry and Ron halfway across the common room as they all headed towards breakfast. 'You look absolutely - Oh for heaven's sake.'**

"What now?" asked Tonks looking irritated.

"I'm sure it's nothing," said Arthur waving at Kingsley to continue.

**She was staring at the common-room noticeboard, where a large new sign had been put up.**

_**GALLONS OF GALLEONS!**_

_**Pocket money failing to keep pace with your outgoings?**_

_**Like to earn a little extra gold?**_

_**Contact Fred and George Weasley, Gryffindor common room,**_

_**for simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs.**_

_**(We regret that all work is undertaken at applicant's own risk.)**_

"Oh, that's okay then," said Tonks as she and the Marauders grinned, or in Remus's case tried not to grin and failed dismally, but then he was sure that he, Sirius and James would have done something like that in school had they ever gotten around to it.

Molly, however cried "Boys!" looking indignant at the thought of her sons testing potentially dangerous substances on the first years, successfully wiping the grins off the Twins faces as she and Hermione glared at them.

**'They are the limit,' said Hermione grimly, taking down the sign, which Fred and George had pinned up over a poster giving the date of the first Hogsmeade weekend, which was to be in October. 'We'll have to talk to them, Ron.'**

"Speak for yourself," said Ron looking alarmed.

"They're your brothers!" cried Hermione.

"That's my point," retorted Ron as Harry silently begged for Kingsley to keep reading and _Harry _and _Ron_ laughed.

**Ron looked positively alarmed.**

**'Why?'**

**'Because we're prefects!' said Hermione, as they climbed out through the portrait hole. 'It's up to us to stop this kind of thing!'**

"Technically, Miss Granger they aren't doing anything against the rules, they provide incentive and a warning," said Dumbledore to Hermione before turning to the Twins and adding, "though I would prefer that not test your products on the younger students."

"They shouldn't be testing them on the students at all!" protested Molly, Kingsley however continued before anyone else could continue the argument.

**Ron said nothing; Harry could tell from his glum expression that the prospect of stopping Fred and George doing exactly what they liked was not one he found inviting.**

"Why would it? They're my older brothers, like they are going to listen to me," grumbled Ron.

"That is true," grinned George.

"Well," drawled _Ron_ looking from the twins to his younger self, "They might not listen to you, but I'm sure Hermione would be happy to help…" he trailed off, "_Harry_, what's that word I'm looking for?" he asked turning his gaze to the man next to him who was grinning.

"Oh well that is a tough one, persuade…enforce…coerce…oh I know, _encourage_," _Harry_ laughed as the Twins shifted their gaze to Hermione who was smiling sweetly at them and gulped.

"Yeah, encourage, I'm sure Hermione would love to help you _encourage_ the Twins to listen to you more," said _Ron_ as Ron grinned and the adults laughed at their antics.

**'Anyway, what's up, Harry?' Hermione continued, as they walked down a flight of stairs lined with portraits of old witches and wizards, all of whom ignored them, being engrossed in their own conversation. 'You look really angry about something.'**

"No, really," snorted Harry before dodging as Hermione swung a pillow at his head.

**'Seamus reckons Harry's lying about You-Know-Who,' said Ron succinctly, when Harry did not respond.**

**Hermione, who Harry had expected to react angrily on his behalf, sighed.**

**'Yes, Lavender thinks so too,' she said gloomily.**

_Ron_ winced, but otherwise gave no reaction to Lavender's name. He did really think it was a good time to bring up his relationship with her at the moment, besides she had been dead just over a year and he didn't really want to think about it. _Ron_ felt _Harry_ squeeze his shoulder and smiled weakly at his friend, all the while missing the next sentence of the book.

**'Been having a nice little chat with her about whether or not I'm a lying, attention-seeking prat, have you?' Harry said loudly.**

"Sorry," Harry apologised as Hermione glared at him.

**'No,' said Hermione calmly. 'I told her to keep her big fat mouth shut about you, actually. **

"Well, well Hermione, I knew you were one to watch, you're far too much like Moony, except without the obsession with chocolate and explosions," laughed Sirius as he winked at her and she and Remus blushed.

"I was not obsessed with blowing things up," protested Remus as Tonks and Emmeline giggled,

"So you'll admit to the chocolate obsession then?" said Tonks in between giggles.

"Never," he declared as the room laughed at his red cheeks and Kingsley continued.

**And it would be quite nice if you stopped jumping down our throats, Harry, because in case you haven't noticed, Ron and I are on your side.'**

"Oh he'll be doing that all year," said _Ron_ coming out of his reverie as _Harry_ smiled sheepishly.

"I look forward to it," replied Hermione rolling her eyes.

**There was a short pause.**

**'Sorry,' said Harry in a low voice.**

**That's quite all right,' said Hermione with dignity. Then she shook her head. 'Don't you remember what Dumbledore said at the last end-of-term feast?'**

"How in the name of Merlin would I have remembered that!" exclaimed Ron turning to face Hermione.

"It's not like it was that long ago," she replied shrugging as Ron shook his head in exasperation.

"It was three months ago!" argued Ron.

"And yet you remember which chocolate frog cards you got on the Hogwarts Express when you were eleven," retorted Hermione raising her eyebrow at Ron, who was now red faced.

**Harry and Ron both looked at her blankly and Hermione sighed again.**

**'About You-Know-Who. He said his "gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust - " '**

"Well, at least one of you listens," mumbled Molly, causing Arthur to chuckle.

**'How do you remember stuff like that?' asked Ron, looking at her in admiration.**

**'I listen, Ron,' said Hermione, with a touch of asperity.**

**'So do I, but I still couldn't tell you exactly what - '**

"I don't think that's the point of what she's trying to say Ron," said Bill as Kingsley nodded as he continued to read.

**The point,' Hermione pressed on loudly, 'is that this sort of thing is exactly what Dumbledore was talking about. You-Know-Who's only been back two months and we've already started fighting among ourselves. And the Sorting Hat's warning was the same: stand together, be united - '**

"Somehow I can't really see that happening," said Tonks grimacing.

"And that's exactly what the other side wants, while we're fighting amongst ourselves they're free to do whatever they like," growled Moody, once again frightening several people who had forgotten he was there.

**'And Harry got it right last night,' retorted Ron. 'If that means we're supposed to get matey with the Slytherins - fat chance.'**

**'Well, I think it's a pity we're not trying for a bit of inter-house unity,' said Hermione crossly.**

"Perhaps another Yule Ball Headmaster," said Molly.

"Yes that did work well last year, though I'm not sure how that would lead to house unity," smiled Dumbledore.

"You could make it a masquerade ball," suggested Emmeline.

Dumbledore thought about it for a moment, the idea did have merits and it had worked quite well last year, "I will have to think further on it," he said when he notice the women were waiting for an answer.

**They had reached the foot of the marble staircase. A line of fourth-year Ravenclaws was crossing the Entrance Hall; they caught sight of Harry and hurried to form a tighter group, as though frightened he might attack stragglers.**

"Great, that's people in your year Ginny," exclaim Harry.

"They aren't very nice though," said Luna in her dreamy voice before Ginny could answer. Then, she turned to Fred and whispered "I suspect Nargles," much to his confusion.

**'Yeah, we really ought to be trying to make friends with people like that,' said Harry sarcastically. They followed the Ravenclaws into the Great Hall, all looking instinctively at the staff table as they entered. Professor Grubbly-Plank was chatting to Professor Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher, and Hagrid was once again conspicuous only by his absence. The enchanted ceiling above them echoed Harry's mood; it was a miserable rain-cloud grey.**

"I hate it when it does that," muttered Tonks sneaking a glance at Remus who winked at her when he caught her looking.

**'Dumbledore didn't even mention how long that Grubbly-Plank woman's staying,' he said, as they made their way across to the Gryffindor table.**

**'Maybe . . .' said Hermione thoughtfully.**

**'What?' said both Harry and Ron together.**

**'Well . . . maybe he didn't want to draw attention to Hagrid not being here.'**

"How could we not notice that Hagrid is missing?" asked Ron, his eyebrow raised as he looked at Hermione.

"You know what I mean," said Hermione rolling her eyes. "It's not like Professor Dumbledore's going to put up a sign or something, that wouldn't be suspicious at all," she finished sarcastically, surprising more than a few people in the room.

**'What d'you mean, draw attention to it?' said Ron, half-laughing. 'How could we not notice?'**

Ron snickered at the repeated question but stopped when he noticed Hermione's glare.

**Before Hermione could answer, a tall black girl with long braided hair had marched up to Harry.**

**'Hi, Angelina.'**

"Georgie's girlfriend," grinned Fred.

"George's, I thought you were dating her?" asked Ginny confused.

"Nah, we only went to the Yule Ball together and went on a couple of dates after that, George is the one in love with her," Fred told her.

"I'm sitting right here!" yelled George who was doing his best imitation of a tomato. "And she's not my girlfriend!" he added a little too quickly.

**'Hi,' she said briskly, 'good summer?' And without waiting for an answer, 'Listen, I've been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.'**

"That's brilliant!" smiled Harry; he could wait to see what she was like as a captain, she would be as over the top as Oliver had been but she wouldn't want to slack off either, she'd want to make him proud and all that.

"Yeah she'll be great at it," said the Twins at the same time.

**'Nice one,' said Harry, grinning at her; he suspected Angelina's pep talks might not be as long-winded as Oliver Wood's had been, which could only be an improvement.**

"Thank Merlin," sighed Fred as George and both Harry's nodded grinning.

**'Yeah, well, we need a new Keeper now Oliver's left. Tryouts are on Friday at five o'clock and I want the whole team there, all right? Then we can see how the new person'll fit in.'**

"I'd say they fit in pretty well," teased _Harry_.

"Who is it?" asked the Twins eagerly.

"Not telling," _Harry _laughed in return as the Twins looked at the younger version of their friend,

"Have we ever told you how annoying you are in the future," they said in unison as Harry smiled sheepishly and the others laughed at the pouts on the Twins faces.

**'OK,' said Harry.**

**Angelina smiled at him and departed.**

**'I'd forgotten Wood had left,' said Hermione vaguely as she sat down beside Ron and pulled a plate of toast towards her. 'I suppose that will make quite a difference to the team?'**

"Players don't tend to have the same style when it comes to Quidditch, I mean all the basics are the same per position but what the player brings to the game varies a lot between players," Sirius told her.

**'I s'pose,' said Harry, taking the bench opposite. 'He was a good Keeper . . .'**

**'Still, it won't hurt to have some new blood, will it?' said Ron.**

"New blood is always good, keeps the team fresh," said Remus agreeing with Ron.

"Were you on the team?" asked Harry curiously.

Remus laughed, "No, your dad was obviously and Sirius here was a beater. I however prefered to do the commentaries."

"What about Pettigrew?" asked _Harry_ somewhat hesitantly. Since the end of the war _Harry_ had always wondered what Pettigrew had actually done for the Marauders, they had to have liked him for some reason hadn't they? Remus's face darkened as he thought of his ex-best friend,

"He didn't play but he was really into it, almost as crazy about it as James was and he did the commentaries when I couldn't," he said watching Sirius, who had his eyes closed tightly.

"That was one of the things that James really liked about him, I mean, we were all Quidditch enthusiasts but Prongs and Wor-Pettigrew were crazy about it," said Sirius quietly, his voice laced with bitterness. _Harry_ nodded but didn't push the subject knowing how hard it was for the two Marauders' to talk about, instead he silently indicated for Kingsley to keep reading.

**With a whoosh and a clatter, hundreds of owls came soaring in through the upper windows. They descended all over the Hall, bringing letters and packages to their owners and showering the breakfasters with droplets of water; it was clearly raining hard outside. Hedwig was nowhere to be seen, but Harry was hardly surprised; his only correspondent was Sirius, and he doubted Sirius would have anything new to tell him after only twenty-four hours apart. **

"Well, I can't tell you Order stuff and there isn't anything all that interesting going on here," explain Sirius eager for the distraction from the last topic.

"I dunno it seems pretty interesting now," said _Harry_ to _Ron_ indicating Sirius and Emmeline who were leaning in on each other and Remus and Tonks who were not-quite-but-almost holding hands and blushing every time they looked at each other. _Ron_ snorted catching the attention of the rest of the room.

"What are you to whispering about over there?" asked Molly as the two men burst out laughing.

"Nothing," quipped _Ron_ as Tonks raised an eyebrow,

"Doesn't sound like nothing," she said her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"No really it's nothing, just something we didn't notice the first time round," said _Ron_ while _Harry _caught his breath.

**Hermione, however, had to move her orange juice aside quickly to make way for a large damp barn owl bearing a sodden Daily Prophet in its beak.**

"Why are you still getting it?" asked Ginny. If it was only slander and junk what would be the point of reading it?

"Because you should always keep track of what the enemy is saying and doing, and what better way than through the Prophet," growled Moody once again ignoring the looks from Molly. In his opinion, if the kid was smart enough to ask the question than they were old enough to know the answer and by Merlin was he going to give an answer, and not the watered down version Molly insisted on tell them.

**What are you still getting that for?' said Harry irritably, thinking of Seamus as Hermione placed a Knut in the leather pouch on the owl's leg and it took off again. 'I'm not bothering . . . load of rubbish.'**

**'It's best to know what the enemy is saying,' said Hermione darkly, **

"Exactly, good thinking Granger," praised Moody.

"You know what, I think I've heard more compliments out of you to those three in the last two days than I have ever heard you say to anyone, including me!" cried Tonks mock-indignantly.

"And she's your favourite Moody," laughed Kingsley as Tonks beamed and Moody rolled his eyes making the magic eyeball wiz around in its socket and Harry, Ron and Hermione blushed.

**and she unfurled the newspaper and disappeared behind it, not emerging until Harry and Ron had finished eating.**

**'Nothing,' she said simply, rolling up the newspaper and laying it down by her plate. 'Nothing about you or Dumbledore or anything.'**

"Well it's not always in there otherwise people would start getting annoyed with it and ignore it," commented Arthur.

**Professor McGonagall was now moving along the table handing out timetables.**

**'Look at today!' groaned Ron. 'History of Magic, double Potions,**

**Divination and double Defence Against the Dark Arts . . . Binns, Snape, Trelawney and that Umbridge woman all in one day! **

The teenagers winced as Harry and Ron groaned at the thought of having those lessons on a Monday which were already bad enough, what with it being a Monday and all.

"Tough luck boys," laughed Bill.

**I wish Fred and George'd hurry up and get those Skiving Snackboxes sorted . . ."**

**'Do mine ears deceive me?' said Fred, arriving with George and squeezing on to the bench beside Harry. 'Hogwarts prefects surely don't wish to skive off lessons?'**

"I'll admit you have a fair point for that," grinned Fred.

"Don't you dare Ronald Weasley," said Molly glaring at her youngest son, "And you two, don't even get me started about you selling those things at Hogwarts," she added turning her glare on the Twins.

"Now Molly, they haven't done it yet," said Arthur tiredly.

"Do you think I should say something to her?" _Ron_ asked _Harry _grimacing.

"Maybe, I think she'll come around once we get further into the year," replied_ Harry_ shrugging.

**'Look what we've got today,' said Ron grumpily, shoving his timetable under Fred's nose. 'That's the worst Monday I've ever seen.'**

**'Fair point, little bro,' said Fred, scanning the column. 'You can have a bit of Nosebleed Nougat cheap if you like.'**

"What's wrong with it?" asked Ron immediately.

"Why would you think there was something wrong with it?" asked Bill.

"Because they're offering it cheap," said Ron glaring at the Twins. Arthur sighed, by the sounds of it they would be having a family meeting somewhere in the near future, maybe he should start making a list of things they needed to cover, most of which involved his youngest son.

**'Why's it cheap?' said Ron suspiciously.**

**'Because you'll keep bleeding till you shrivel up, we haven't got an antidote yet,' said George, helping himself to a kipper.**

"That's what I thought," mumbled Ron moodily.

**'Cheers,' said Ron moodily, pocketing his timetable, 'but I think I'll take the lessons.'**

**'And speaking of your Skiving Snackboxes,' said Hermione, eyeing Fred and George beadily, 'you can't advertise for testers on the Gryffindor noticeboard.'**

**'Says who?' said George, looking astonished.**

**'Says me,' said Hermione. 'And Ron.'**

"Don't drag me into it, you're the one with the problem with them, you can deal with it," Ron told her.

"You're a prefect Ron-"

"Yeah and Dumbledore has already said they aren't doing anything wrong so leave it alright," snapped Ron. Hermione's retort however was cut off by _Ron_ who loudly exclaimed to _Harry_,

"Blimey, was I always this moody when we were younger?"

"Only a lot," smiled _Harry_ not that _Ron's_ mood swings had had anything on his, they were still pretty bad, particularly when it came to something to do with his family or Hermione.

**'Leave me out of it,' said Ron hastily.**

**Hermione glared at him. Fred and George sniggered.**

**'You'll be singing a different tune soon enough, Hermione,' said Fred, thickly buttering a crumpet. 'You're starting your fifth year, you'll be begging us for a Snackbox before long.'**

"Amen to that," laughed George.

**'And why would starting fifth year mean I want a Skiving Snackbox?' asked Hermione.**

**'Fifth year's OWL year,' said George.**

**'So?'**

**'So you've got your exams coming up, haven't you? They'll be keeping your noses so hard to that grindstone they'll be rubbed raw,' said Fred with satisfaction.**

**'Half our year had minor breakdowns coming up to OWLs,' said George happily. Tears and tantrums . . . Patricia Stimpson kept coming over faint . . .'**

"Yeah it does get a bit dramatic around that time of year," said Tonks.

"You're telling me," snorted Sirius before turning to Remus, "You and Lily were likely to bite someone's head off if they even spoke to you while you were studying," he laughed.

"Only if it was you or James," grinned Remus.

**'Kenneth Towler came out in boils, d'you remember?' said Fred remmiscently.**

"That was you," George reminded him.

"Oh yeah," laughed Fred.

"That's not very nice," said Luna in her dreamy voice. Fred looked at the younger girl sitting next to him and could see something in her eyes that made him feel slightly bad about the prank but the feeling disappeared as he turned his attention back to Kingsley and thought nothing more of it.

**That's 'cause you put Bulbadox powder in his pyjamas,' said George.**

**'Oh yeah,' said Fred, grinning. 'I'd forgotten . . . hard to keep track sometimes, isn't it?'**

"That it is," Sirius sighed as Remus nodded and Molly rolled her eyes at them. They were grown men for pity sake.

**'Anyway, it's a nightmare of a year, the fifth,' said George. 'If you care about exam results, anyway. Fred and I managed to keep our peckers up somehow.'**

**'Yeah . . . you got, what was it, three OWLs each?' said Ron.**

**'Yep,' said Fred unconcernedly. 'But we feel our futures lie outside the world of academic achievement.'**

"You two had better finish school or so help me…" Molly trailed off as the Twins gulped and _Harry_ and _Ron_ bit their tongues as they tried to imagine what Molly's face would look like when she found out that the Twins had dropped out.

**'We seriously debated whether we were going to bother coming back for our seventh year,' said George brightly, 'now that we've got-**

"You WHAT!" yelled Molly making the whole room wince at the pitch of her voice. In fact they were lucky that she hadn't woken Mrs Black.

**He broke off at a warning look from Harry, who knew George had been about to mention the Triwizard winnings he had given them.**

"Not that it matters now," grumbled Harry.

"It would have come out eventually Harry," soothed Sirius ruffling Harry's hair.

"Stop that," growled Harry pulling away from Sirius trying to flatten his hair again.

"Stop that," imitated Sirius pulling a face at Harry who glared at him and turned around before Sirius could see his lips twitching.

**' - now that we've got our OWLs,' George said hastily. 'I mean, do we really need NEWTs? But we didn't think Mum could take us leaving school early not on top of Percy turning out to be the world's biggest prat.'**

**We're not going to waste our last year here, though,' said Fred, looking affectionately around at the Great Hall. 'We're going to use it to do a bit of market research, find out exactly what the average Hogwarts student requires from a joke shop, carefully evaluate the results of our research, then produce products to fit the demand.'**

"That's actually a really good idea," said Bill sounding surprised.

"Of course it's a good idea," exclaimed Fred.

"If we want a successful business then we have to know what the customers want," explained George sounding slightly insulted. Molly frowned; at least they weren't trying to start a joke shop without any idea as what they were doing.

**'But where are you going to get the gold to start a joke shop?' Hermione asked sceptically. 'You're going to need all the ingredients and materials - and premises too, I suppose . . .'**

"Done, done and almost done," said George as Fred counted them off on his fingers.

**Harry did not look at the twins. His face felt hot; he deliberately dropped his fork and dived down to retrieve it. He heard Fred say overhead, 'Ask us no questions and we'll tell you no lies, **

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Hermione frowning.

"It means '_we're not telling'_ in the nicest way possible," supplied Remus as the other pranksters nodded.

**Hermione. C'mon, George, if we get there early we might be able to sell a few Extendable Ears before Herbology.'**

**Harry emerged from under the table to see Fred and George walking away, each carrying a stack of toast.**

**'What did that mean?' said Hermione, looking from Harry to Ron, ' "Ask us no questions . . ." Does that mean they've already got some gold to start a joke shop?'**

"Yes, yes it does," giggled Ginny as Hermione poked her tongue out at her.

**'You know, I've been wondering about that,' said Ron, his brow furrowed. 'They bought me a new set of dress robes this summer and I couldn't understand where they got the Galleons . . .'**

"Thanks for that by the way, they actually managed to get some really good ones," said Ron cheerfully.

"And they're not maroon?" teased Ginny, giggling again as Ron's expression dropped and he scowled at her.

"No they are not, they're green*," he told her smiling at the Twins and Harry.

"That was very kind of you boys," Molly told the Twins quietly. It had been part of the deal that they had made with Harry, but being able to buy things for their younger brother seemed to be something of an accomplishment for them, especially after what they had discovered about their brother just last night.

**Harry decided it was time to steer the conversation out of these dangerous waters.**

**'D'you reckon it's true this year's going to be really tough? Because of the exams?'**

**'Oh, yeah,' said Ron. 'Bound to be, isn't it? OWLs are really important, affect the jobs you can apply for and everything. We get career advice, too, later this year, Bill told me. So you can choose what NEWTs you want to do next year.'**

**'D'you know what you want to do after Hogwarts?' Harry asked the other two, as they left the Great Hall shortly afterwards and set off towards their History of Magic classroom.**

**'Not really,' said Ron slowly. 'Except . . . well . . .'**

**He looked slightly sheepish.**

**What?' Harry urged him.**

**Well, it'd be cool to be an Auror,' said Ron in an off-hand voice.**

"It's very cool to be an Auror," grinned _Ron _as _Harry_ nodded.

**'Yeah, it would,' said Harry fervently.**

**'But they're, like, the elite,' said Ron. 'You've got to be really good. What about you, Hermione?'**

**'I don't know,' she said. 'I think I'd like to do something really worthwhile.'**

**'An Aurors worthwhile!' said Harry.**

**'Yes, it is, but it's not the only worthwhile thing,' said Hermione thoughtfully, 'I mean, if I could take SPEW further . . .'**

"Which I do," Hermione smiled to herself.

**Harry and Ron carefully avoided looking at each other.**

Hermione glared at her two friends as the backed away from her slowly both sporting sheepish smiles.

**History of Magic was by common consent the most boring subject ever devised by wizardkind. Professor Binns, their ghost teacher, had a wheezy, droning voice that was almost guaranteed to cause severe drowsiness within ten minutes, five in warm weather. He never varied the form of their lessons, but lectured them without pausing while they took notes, or rather, gazed sleepily into space. **

"I think you might need to find a new History of Magic teacher, Albus," said Arthur involuntarily yawning as Kingsley read the paragraph.

"Yes, I can see your point, he may however take a little convincing if I do find a replacement," replied Dumbledore, stroking his beard.

"Is he still there in the future?" asked Luna looking at _Harry_ and _Ron_.

"Um…I'm not entirely sure, but he probably is," said _Harry_ shrugging.

**Harry and Ron had so far managed to scrape passes in this subject only by copying Hermione's notes before exams; she alone seemed able to resist the soporific power of Binns's voice.**

"Wow, even Moony here couldn't resist it," said Sirius in awe as Hermione blushed and Remus spluttered.

"Of course I could!" he exclaimed but Sirius ignored him.

**Today, they suffered an hour and a half's droning on the subject of giant wars. Harry heard just enough within the first ten minutes to appreciate dimly that in another teacher's hands this subject might have been mildly interesting, but then his brain disengaged, and he spent the remaining hour and twenty minutes playing hangman on a corner of his parchment with Ron, while Hermione shot them filthy looks out of the corner of her eye.**

"You should be at least trying to pay attention," said Hermione glaring at the boys in question.

"Didn't the book just say how boring the class is," retorted Ron as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it kind of was.

**'How would it be,' she asked them coldly, as they left the classroom for break (Binns drifting away through the blackboard), 'if I refused to lend you my notes this year?'**

**'We'd fail our OWL, said Ron. 'If you want that on your conscience, Hermione . . .'**

Ron pointedly ignored Hermione's filthy look and his mother's glare as Kingsley continued.

**'Well, you'd deserve it,' she snapped. 'You don't even try to listen to him, do you?'**

**'We do try,' said Ron. 'We just haven't got your brains or your memory or your concentration - you're just cleverer than we are - is it nice to rub it in?'**

Hermione blushed and smiled at Ron who grinned back at her.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear hardly noticing as he shuddered as her warm breath hit his ear.

"No problem," he breathed back not noticing the snickering coming from several points around the room.

**'Oh, don't give me that rubbish,' said Hermione, but she looked slightly mollified as she led the way out into the damp courtyard.**

**A fine misty drizzle was falling, so that the people standing in huddles around the edges of the yard looked blurred at the edges. Harry, Ron and Hermione chose a secluded corner under a heavily dripping balcony, turning up the collars of their robes against the chilly September air and talking about what Snape was likely to set them in the first lesson of the year. **

"Something that's going to be extremely hard and definitely not something we should know how to make on the first day," sighed George.

**They had got as far as agreeing that it was likely to be something extremely difficult, just to catch them off guard after a two-month holiday, when someone walked around the corner towards them.**

**'Hello, Harry!'**

**It was Cho Chang**

"Oohh Cho Chang," teased Sirius in a false high voice. Harry glared at him, his face red as he heard the laughs around the room. Sirius shuddered as Harry narrowed his eyes and glanced at Emmeline who was pressed against Sirius's side. _He wouldn't_ Sirius thought as Harry opened his mouth,

"Hey Emmeline, did you know that Siri-" Harry started but he was cut off as Sirius lunged forward to place his hand over Harry mouth while glaring at him.

"Don't even think about it," he warned releasing Harry who shrugged and turned back in his seat.

"What was that about?" asked Emmeline confused.

"Nothing, it was nothing," replied Sirius a little too quickly.

"You have to admit Padfoot, you brought that on to yourself," laughed Remus.

"Shut up Remus," retorted Sirius as he crossed his arms and Remus laughed again.

**and, what was more, she was on her own again. This was most unusual: Cho was almost always surrounded by a gang of giggling girls; Harry remembered the agony of trying to get her by herself to ask her to the Yule Ball.**

**'Hi,' said Harry, feeling his face grow hot. At least you're not covered in Stinksap this time, he told himself. Cho seemed to be thinking along the same lines.**

**'You got that stuff off, then?'**

"Thank Merlin," murmured Harry to himself.

**'Yeah,' said Harry, trying to grin as though the memory of their last meeting was funny as opposed to mortifying. 'So, did you . . . er . . . have a good summer?'**

"Probably not the best subject," muttered Hermione, thinking of Cho's reaction to Cedric's death.

**The moment he had said this he wished he hadn't - Cedric had been Cho's boyfriend and the memory of his death must have affected her holiday almost as badly as it had affected Harry's. Something seemed to tauten in her face, but she said, 'Oh, it was all right, you know . . .'**

**'Is that a Tornados badge?' Ron demanded suddenly, **

"Not the best subject change either," Hermione added looking incredulously at Ron.

"What?" he asked.

"Why do I even bother?" she asked shaking her head.

"What?" asked Ron again when she wouldn't answer him.

**pointing to the front of Cho's robes, where a sky-blue badge emblazoned with a double gold 'T' was pinned. 'You don't support them, do you?'**

**'Yeah, I do,' said Cho.**

**'Have you always supported them, or just since they started winning the league?' said Ron, in what Harry considered an unnecessarily accusatory tone of voice.**

"I hate it when people do that," muttered both Ron's at the same time as the room laughed again.

**'I've supported them since I was six,' said Cho coolly. 'Anyway . . . see you, Harry.'**

**She walked away. Hermione waited until Cho was halfway across the courtyard before rounding on Ron.**

**'You are so tactless!'**

"I get better at it," defended _Ron_ as _Harry_ snickered next to him and his ears turned red.

**'What? I only asked her if - '**

**'Couldn't you tell she wanted to talk to Harry on her own?'**

**'So? She could've done, I wasn't stopping - '**

**'Why on earth were you attacking her about her Quidditch team?'**

**'Attacking? I wasn't attacking her, I was only - '**

**'Who cares if she supports the Tornados?'**

**'Oh, come on, half the people you see wearing those badges only bought them last season - '**

**'But what does it matter?'**

**'It means they're not real fans, they're just jumping on the bandwagon - '**

"Whereas Ronnie here has been supporting the losing team all his life," grinned Fred as Ron scowled at him.

"Yeah and in all that time have you ever asked me why I support them?" retorted Ron only to be met with silence.

"They're the under dogs," said Luna simply, staring into space.

"Under dogs?" asked Ginny looking at her brother.

"He feels he can relate to them because nobody expects them to be great," replied Luna, her unfocused stare settling on a very red Ron.

"How in the name of Merlin does she do that?" _Ron_ asked _Harry_ as they watched the scene play out.

"It's Luna, I stopped asking a long time ago," _Harry_ whispered back.

**That's the bell,' said Harry dully, because Ron and Hermione were bickering too loudly to hear it. They did not stop arguing all the way down to Snape's dungeon, which gave Harry plenty of time to reflect that between Neville and Ron he would be lucky ever to have two minutes of conversation with Cho that he could look back on without wanting to leave the country.**

"That's always a good thing," laughed Arthur as he thought back to the time he had first plucked up the courage to talk to Molly, he was so nervous he ended up talking about chocolate frogs.

**And yet, he thought, as they joined the queue lining up outside Snape's classroom door, she had chosen to come and talk to him, hadn't she? She had been Cedric's girlfriend; she could easily have hated Harry for coming out of the Triwizard maze alive when Cedric had died, yet she was talking to him in a perfectly friendly way, not as though she thought him mad, or a liar, or in some horrible way responsible for Cedric's death . . . yes, she had definitely chosen to come and talk to him, and that made the second time in two days . . . and at this thought, Harry's spirits rose. **

By the time Kingsley had finished reading the paragraph both Sirius and Remus were laughing their heads off while both of the Harry's glared at them, and once Sirius had calmed down enough to notice, still smiling he explained,

"That sounds exactly like something James blabbered on about after Lily started talking to him," he said wiping the tears of mirth away from his eyes.

"I can still picture him pacing in the dorm trying to work out her angle," added Remus as both Harry's as well as the rest of the room beamed at the thought of his father getting all worked up over a girl. It made him seem more…human…more alive than Harry had ever been able to picture him before.

**Even the ominous sound of Snape's dungeon door creaking open did not puncture the small, hopeful bubble that seemed to have swelled in his chest. **

"That doesn't sound very comfortable," said Luna frowning.

"It's a figure of speech, not an actual bubble," Ginny explained as the Twins snorted quietly and Hermione rolled her eyes.

**He filed into the classroom behind Ron and Hermione and followed them to their usual table at the back, where he sat down between Ron and Hermione and ignored the huffy, irritable noises now issuing from both of them.**

"Oh good, it's almost over than," sighed Harry, who then winced as his friend smacked him on his arms.

**'Settle down,' said Snape coldly, shutting the door behind him.**

**There was no real need for the call to order; the moment the class had heard the door close, quiet had fallen and all fidgeting stopped. Snape's mere presence was usually enough to ensure a class's silence.**

"I bet he loves that, he has the entire room terrified of him," scoffed Sirius already irritated by Snape's appearance in the book.

**'Before we begin today's lesson,' said Snape, sweeping over to his desk and staring around at them all, 'I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. **

"That's actually a decent speech," said Bill surprised, he didn't remember his being that nice.

**Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an "Acceptable" in your OWL, or suffer my . . . displeasure.'**

"Oh, never mind."

"Albus, he can't do that, he can't call the children moronic and expect them to learn from him!" exclaimed Molly.

"I assure you Molly I will be speaking to him," soothed Dumbledore.

"Like he'll listen," grumbled Harry.

**His gaze lingered this time on Neville, who gulped.**

**'After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me,' Snape went on. 'I take only the very best into my NEWT Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying goodbye.'**

"Not us unfortunately," groaned _Ron_.

"Why not you?" asked Bill curiously. But _Ron_ didn't answer; instead he winked and went back to listening to the story.

**His eyes rested on Harry and his lip curled. Harry glared back, feeling a grim pleasure at the idea that he would be able to give up Potions after fifth year.**

Harry smiled at the thought, before he remembered what _Ron_ had just said and groaned instead.

**'But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell,' said Snape softly, 'so, whether or not you are intending to attempt NEWT, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high pass level I have come to expect from my OWL students. 'Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: if you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing.' On Harry's left, Hermione sat up a little straighter, her expression one of utmost attention. The ingredients and method - ' Snape flicked his wand ' - are on the blackboard - (they appeared there) ' - you will find everything you need - ' he flicked his wand again ' - in the store cupboard - ' (the door of the said cupboard sprang open) ' - you have an hour and a half . . . start.'**

"You know if he had set that in the middle of the year, it wouldn't have been that bad a lesson," said _Harry_ offhandedly.

"Are you joking, since when have any of Snape's lesson not been that bad?" asked George.

"George, don't disrespect your teacher," snapped Molly.

"Sorry mum," said George rolling his eyes.

"He should just rewrite the text book and then leave us to it," added _Ron_ agreeing with _Harry's_ statement.

"What are you to talking about?" asked Hermione confused.

Harry's eyes widened as he registered what he and _Ron_ had been talking about before turning to Hermione,

"Spoilers," he said smirking as Hermione frowned, filing the information away for later.

**Just as Harry, Ron and Hermione had predicted, Snape could hardly have set them a more difficult, fiddly potion. The ingredients had to be added to the cauldron in precisely the right order and quantities; the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times, firstly in clockwise, then in anti-clockwise directions; the heat of the flames on which it was simmering had to be lowered to exactly the right level for a specific number of minutes before the final ingredient was added.**

**'A light silver vapour should now be rising from your potion,' called Snape, with ten minutes left to go.**

"Key word there: should," laughed Emmeline, thinking back to all the disastrous potions from her school days.

**Harry, who was sweating profusely, looked desperately around the dungeon. His own cauldron was issuing copious amounts of dark grey steam; Ron's was spitting green sparks. Seamus was feverishly prodding the flames at the base of his cauldron with the tip of his wand, as they seemed to be going out. The surface of Hermione's potion, however, was a shimmering mist of silver vapour, and as Snape swept by he looked down his hooked nose at it without comment, which meant he could find nothing to criticise.**

Hermione looked very pleased with herself at the mention of this and Harry couldn't help but wonder if it was because eleven year old Hermione was still in there somewhere trying to prove that she wasn't a dunderhead.

**At Harry's cauldron, however, Snape stopped, and looked down at it with a horrible smirk on his face.**

"Here we go," mumbled Harry glaring at the book.

**'Potter, what is this supposed to be?'**

**The Slytherins at the front of the class all looked up eagerly; they loved hearing Snape taunt Harry.**

"Of course they do," growled Tonks.

**'The Draught of Peace,' said Harry tensely.**

**'Tell me, Potter,' said Snape softly, 'can you read?'**

"I'm going to kill him," Sirius muttered to himself

**Draco Malfoy laughed.**

**'Yes, I can,' said Harry, his fingers clenched tightly around his wand.**

**'Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter.'**

**Harry squinted at the blackboard; it was not easy to make out the instructions through the haze of multi-coloured steam now filling the dungeon.**

**' "Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counter-clockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes then add two drops of syrup of hellebore." '**

**His heart sank. He had not added syrup of hellebore, but had proceeded straight to the fourth line of the instructions after allowing his potion to simmer for seven minutes.**

**'Did you do everything on the third line, Potter?'**

**'No,' said Harry very quietly.**

**'I beg your pardon?'**

**'No,' said Harry, more loudly. 'I forgot the hellebore.'**

**'I know you did, Potter, which means that this mess is utterly worthless. Evanesce.'**

Molly seethed, how dare he do that, even if he knew the potion wouldn't work he still should have been able to mark it, any decent professor would have. She opened her mouth to say something once again to Dumbledore, but was cut off by Sirius.

"You better do something about that Sir," he said in a dangerous voice.

**The contents of Harry's potion vanished; he was left standing foolishly beside an empty cauldron.**

**'Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing,' said Snape. 'Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday.'**

**While everyone around him filled their flagons, Harry cleared away his things, seething. His potion had been no worse than Ron's, which was now giving off a foul odour of bad eggs; or Neville's, which had achieved the consistency of just-mixed cement and which Neville was now having to gouge out of his cauldron; yet it was he, Harry, who would be receiving zero marks for the day's work. **

"Because the blithering idiot can't let go of a school boy grudge," said Sirius bitterly. _Harry_ on the other hand knew that while that was a contributing factor, it was not the only reason Snape 'hated' Harry.

**He stuffed his wand back into his bag and slumped down on to his seat, watching everyone else march up to Snape's desk with filled and corked flagons. When at long last the bell rang, Harry was first out of the dungeon and had already started his lunch by the time Ron and Hermione joined him in the Great Hall. The ceiling had turned an even murkier grey during the morning. Rain was lashing the high windows.**

**That was really unfair,' said Hermione consolingly, sitting down next to Harry and helping herself to shepherd's pie. 'Your potion wasn't nearly as bad as Goyle's; when he put it in his flagon the whole thing shattered and set his robes on fire.'**

The room laughed at the ridiculousness of that sentence.

"Wow, even I wasn't that bad at potions," whistled Remus as Tonks giggled next to him and Sirius and Emmeline full on laughed at the memories of Remus in potions.

**'Yeah, well,' said Harry, glowering at his plate, 'since when has Snape ever been fair to me?'**

"Nowhere in the foreseeable future?" said Ron brightly.

"When he's dead," added _Ron_. _Harry_ rolled his eyes at the comment, but had to admit that it was mostly true, Snape's portrait had eventually apologised for how he had treated _Harry_ in the past, but that might have had something to do with being stuck next to Dumbledore's painting until he did.

**Neither of the others answered; all three of them knew that Snape and Harry's mutual enmity had been absolute from the moment Harry had set foot in Hogwarts.**

**'I did think he might be a bit better this year,' said Hermione in a disappointed voice. 'I mean . . . you know . . .' she looked around carefully; there were half a dozen empty seats on either side of them and nobody was passing the table ' . . . now he's in the Order and everything.'**

"You never know who is listening Miss Granger, I think it would be best if you didn't talk about the Order unless you are completely sure you are alone," Moody told her sternly.

Hermione nodded, thinking of all the times she, Ron and Harry listened in to other people's conversations without them knowing.

**'Poisonous toadstools don't change their spots,' said Ron sagely. **

"That's probably a good thing," said Luna in such a way that it left _Harry_ wondering whether she was actually talking about toadstools and not about Snape himself.

**'Anyway, I've always thought Dumbledore was cracked to trust Snape. Where's the evidence he ever really stopped working for You-Know-Who?'**

"I'd say that I agree with you Ron, but I think that would be a little biased of me," laughed Sirius as Remus looked at him incredulously.

"What do you mean?" asked Arthur hesitantly, not wanting to intrude but none-the-less interested in the answer.

"There's too much bad blood between us, for either of us to completely trust the other, not to mention there is no way in hell that we will ever like each other," he said simply.

**'I think Dumbledore's probably got plenty of evidence, even if he doesn't share it with you, Ron,' snapped Hermione.**

**'Oh, shut up, the pair of you,' said Harry heavily, as Ron opened his mouth to argue back. Hermione and Ron both froze, looking angry and offended. 'Can't you give it a rest?' said Harry. 'You're always having a go at each other, it's driving me mad.' And abandoning his shepherd's pie, he swung his schoolbag back over his shoulder and left them sitting there.**

"You know I can't say I miss you doing that," said _Ron_ grinning.

"Like you can talk," said Harry poking out his tongue, referring to all the times _Ron_ had a mood swing.

"In fact, you did it when I was at your place last week," added _Harry_.

**He walked up the marble staircase two steps at a time, past the many students hurrying towards lunch. The anger that had just flared so unexpectedly still blazed inside him, and the vision of Ron and Hermione's shocked faces afforded him a sense of deep satisfaction. Serve them right, he thought, why can't they give it a rest . . . bickering all the time . . . it's enough to drive anyone up the wall . . .**

Harry frowned and looked at Dumbledore who seemed to be having a silent conversation with his future self, so it was obviously something that he was supposed to deal with on his own until he found out the reason for it in the book…_well that's just great_ he thought furiously as the anger from the book transferred to him. This time however Harry was able to recognise that the anger he was feeling wasn't his. He shook his head, that didn't make sense, how could it not be his…unless…_oh_ he thought as he looked up at _Harry_ who winked at him. Harry's thoughts however were interrupted by Kingsley who had started reading again after being interrupted by a conversation that Harry had completely missed.

**He passed the large picture of Sir Cadogan the knight on a landing; Sir Cadogan drew his sword and brandished it fiercely at Harry, who ignored him.**

**'Come back, you scurvy dog! Stand fast and fight!' yelled Sir Cadogan in a muffled voice from behind his visor, but Harry merely walked on and when Sir Cadogan attempted to follow him by running into a neighbouring picture, he was rebuffed by its inhabitant, a large and angry-looking wolfhound.**

"I know the feeling," grinned Sirius as Remus glared at him.

"Is that what Moony looks like?" asked Tonks curiously much to Remus's surprise and Sirius's delight.

"Kind of I have a picture of him upstairs if you want to see it,' he told her, almost laughing outright as she nodded eagerly and Remus blushed again at the thought of Tonks seeing Moony and possibly liking it.

**Harry spent the rest of the lunch hour sitting alone underneath the trapdoor at the top of North Tower. Consequently, he was the first to ascend the silver ladder that led to Sybill Trelawney's classroom when the bell rang.**

**After Potions, Divination was Harry's least favourite class, which was due mainly to Professor Trelawney's habit of predicting his premature death every few lessons. **

"Always keeps it interesting," laughed Ron.

"Just make sure you listen to the predictions Ron makes," _Harry_ told his younger self.

"Why?" asked Hermione.

"It's kind of a running joke we have, but just about every prediction Ron has made in that class has come true one way or another," _Harry_ told her as the others stared at Ron as his ears turned red.

"Hey that one that you made in fourth year came true as well," defended _Ron_ who then winced, leaving the room, bar _Harry_ to wonder what he was talking about.

**A thin woman, heavily draped in shawls and glittering with strings of beads, she always reminded Harry of some kind of insect, with her glasses hugely magnifying her eyes. **

"Never fail with those descriptions do you Harry," laughed Bill.

**She was busy putting copies of battered leather-bound books on each of the spindly little tables with which her room was littered when Harry entered the room, but the light cast by the lamps covered by scarves and the low-burning, sickly-scented fire was so dim she appeared not to notice him as he took a seat in the shadows. The rest of the class arrived over the next five minutes. Ron emerged from the trapdoor, looked around carefully, spotted Harry and made directly for him, or as directly as he could while having to wend his way between tables, chairs and overstuffed pouffes.**

**'Hermione and me have stopped arguing,' he said, sitting down beside Harry.**

"Good," said Harry not looking at either Ron or Hermione, instead looking directly at the book in Kingsley's hands.

**'Good,' grunted Harry.**

**'But Hermione says she thinks it would be nice if you stopped taking out your temper on us,' said Ron.**

"Sorry," Harry muttered but Ron and Hermione waved him off.

"You haven't done it yet,' Hermione told him.

**'I'm not - '**

**'I'm just passing on the message,' said Ron, talking over him. 'But I reckon she's right. It's not our fault how Seamus and Snape treat you.'**

**'I never said it - '**

**'Good-day,' said Professor Trelawney in her usual misty, dreamy voice, and Harry broke off, again feeling both annoyed and slightly ashamed of himself. 'And welcome back to Divination. I have, of course, been following your fortunes most carefully over the holidays, and am delighted to see that you have all returned to Hogwarts safely - as, of course, I knew you would.**

"Of course you did," scoffed Hermione.

**'You will find on the tables before you copies of The Dream Oracle, by Inigo Imago. **

**Dream interpretation is a most important means of divining the future and one that may very probably be tested in your OWL. Not, of course, that I believe examination passes or failures are of the remotest importance when it comes to the sacred art of divination. If you have the Seeing Eye, certificates and grades matter very little. However, the Headmaster likes you to sit the examination, so . . .'**

"Yes, it is always nice to see what the students have been learning," smiled Dumbledore as his students all groaned.

**Her voice trailed away delicately, leaving them all in no doubt that Professor Trelawney considered her subject above such sordid matters as examinations.**

**Turn, please, to the introduction and read what Imago has to say on the matter of dream interpretation. Then, divide into pairs. Use The Dream Oracle to interpret each other's most recent dreams. Carry on.'**

**The one good thing to be said for this lesson was that it was not a double period. By the time they had all finished reading the introduction of the book, they had barely ten minutes left for dream interpretation. At the table next to Harry and Ron, Dean had paired up with Neville, who immediately embarked on a long-winded explanation of a nightmare involving a pair of giant scissors wearing his grandmother's best hat; Harry and Ron merely looked at each other glumly.**

**'I never remember my dreams,' said Ron, 'you say one.'**

**'You must remember one of them,' said Harry impatiently.**

"Well, I'm sorry if I didn't have any mental scaring to deal with at the time," grumbled _Ron_. Molly frowned as did many others in the room as they heard what _Ron_ had said.

**He was not going to share his dreams with anyone. He knew perfectly well what his regular nightmare about a graveyard meant, he did not need Ron or Proiessor Trelawney or the stupid Dream Oracle to tell him.**

**'Well, I dreamed I was playing Quidditch the other night,' said Ron, screwing up his face in an effort to remember. 'What d'you reckon that means?'**

"So many ways to answer that question," whispered _Harry_ to _Ron_ whose ears turned red.

**'Probably that you're going to be eaten by a giant marshmallow or something,' said Harry, turning the pages of The Dream Oracle without interest. It was very dull work looking up bits of dreams in the Oracle and Harry was not cheered up when Professor Trelawney set them the task of keeping a dream diary for a month as homework. When the bell went, he and Ron led the way back down the ladder, Ron grumbling loudly.**

**'D'you realise how much homework we've got already? Binns set us a foot-and-a-half-long essay on giant wars, Snape wants a foot on the use of moonstones, and now we've got a month's dream diary from Trelawney! Fred and George weren't wrong about OWL year, were they? That Umbridge woman had better not give us any . . .'**

"And now my favourite part of the chapter," cheered _Harry_ sarcastically.

**When they entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom they found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head. Harry was again reminded forcibly of a large fly perched unwisely on top of an even larger toad.**

"Well, that sounds…attractive," said Sirius, his brow furrowed and his nose winkled as he pictured it in his head.

**The class was quiet as it entered the room; Professor Umbridge was, as yet, an unknown quantity and nobody knew how strict a disciplinarian she was likely to be.**

"Or that she was a complete psychopath," muttered _Ron_.

**'Well, good afternoon!' she said, when finally the whole class had sat down.**

**A few people mumbled 'good afternoon' in reply.**

**'Tut, tut,' said Professor Umbridge. 'That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply "Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge". One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!'**

"Seriously?" said Emmeline incredulously, her eye brows disappearing under her fringe.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with my joke," stated Sirius in an equally disbelieving voice.

"I haven't done that since primary school," claimed Hermione as Harry nodded.

**'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge,' they chanted back at her.**

**There, now,' said Professor Umbridge sweetly. That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please.'**

"You already have her beaten Prof-Remus," said Ron turning around to look at the man behind him who smiled warmly back.

**Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order 'wands away' had never yet been followed by a lesson they had found interesting.**

"Well a boggart as a first lesson is always going to be hard to top," said _Harry_ agreeing with his past thoughts.

**Harry shoved his wand back inside his bag and pulled cut quill, ink and parchment. Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extracted her own wand, which was an unusually short one, **

"And is also pink," said _Harry_. Honestly, the thing looked like someone had shrunken a rosewood railing from some old fashion stairs and turned it into a wand.*

**and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once:**

_**Defence Against the Dark Arts**_

_**A Return to Basic Principles**_

"That's not actually a bad idea considering the little amount you've learnt in the past four years," said Remus.

"But we learnt heaps from you," protested Harry.

"Yes, but third year is focussed more on dealing with Magical Creatures than anything else so you didn't really learn many defensive spells," reasoned Remus.

**'Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?' stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her. The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your OWL year.**

"That's because the only one who really followed the set curriculum was Professor Lupin, and I bet she'll disregard that anyway," said Hermione glaring at the book.

**'You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centred, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please.'**

"Theory-centred," said Harry incredulously, they were in the middle of a bloody war and they were going to be taught theory?

**She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by the **_**'Course Aims'.**_

_**1. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.**_

_**2. Learning to recognise situations in which defensive magic can legally be used**_

_**3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.**_

"We're doomed," stated Moody.

"Dumbledore, you can't hire this woman if she is going to be teaching theory, they need to know the practical side of defence all they'll be killed," cried Sirius.

"Unfortunately the way things are going it looks as though I'm not going to have a choice in hiring her, and unless I can find someone else for the job, I won't be in a position to refuse," replied Dumbledore grimly.

**For a couple of minutes the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge's three course aims she asked, 'Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?'**

**There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class.**

**'I think we'll try that again,' said Professor Umbridge. 'When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply, "Yes, Professor Umbridge", or "No, Professor Umbridge'. So: has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?'**

"That's going to get old really quickly," said Ginny rolling her eyes at the ridiculousness of having to chant some stupid phrase like they were kindy kids.

**'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' rang through the room.**

**'Good,' said Professor Umbridge. I should like you to turn to page five and read "Chapter One, Basics for Beginners". There will be no need to talk.'**

**Professor Umbridge left the blackboard and settled herself in the chair behind the teacher's desk, observing them all closely with those pouchy toad's eyes. Harry turned to page five of his copy of Defensive Magical Theory and started to read.**

**It was desperately dull, quite as bad as listening to Professor Binns. He felt his concentration sliding away from him; he had soon read the same line half a dozen times without taking in more than the first few words. Several silent minutes passed. **

"Is it always that boring?" asked Harry.

"Till you lose your temper," replied _Ron_ who grimaced and the adults paled at what Umbridge would do to Harry.

**Next to him, Ron was absent-mindedly turning his quill over and over in his fingers, staring at the same spot on the page. Harry looked right and received a surprise to shake him out of his torpor. Hermione had not even opened her copy of Defensive Magical Theory. She was staring fixedly at Professor Umbridge with her hand in the air.**

"Oh and that, that was interesting," added _Ron_ as he and _Harry _smiled at what was about to happen.

**Harry could not remember Hermione ever neglecting to read when instructed to, or indeed resisting the temptation to open any book that came under her nose. He looked at her enquiringly, but she merely shook her head slightly to indicate that she was not about to answer questions, and continued to stare at Professor Umbridge, who was looking just as resolutely in another direction.**

"So she's as bad as Snape when it comes to questions," said Ginny looking at the two time travellers for answers but they didn't answer, so with a huff Ginny turned back to the book.

**After several more minutes had passed, however, Harry was not the only one watching Hermione. The chapter they had been instructed to read was so tedious that more and more people were choosing to watch Hermione's mute attempt to catch Professor Umbridge's eye rather than struggle on with 'Basics for Beginners'.**

**When more than half the class were staring at Hermione rather than at their books, Professor Umbridge seemed to decide that she could ignore the situation no longer.**

"Not that she didn't try," muttered _Harry._

**'Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?' she asked Hermione, as though she had only just noticed her.**

**'Not about the chapter, no,' said Hermione.**

**'Well, we're reading just now,' said Professor Umbridge, showing her small pointed teeth. 'If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class.'**

**'I've got a query about your course aims,' said Hermione.**

"You're probably not the only one," said Arthur smiling at Hermione in amusment.

**Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows.**

**'And your name is?'**

**'Hermione Granger,' said Hermione.**

**'Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully' said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined sweetness.**

**'Well, I don't,' said Hermione bluntly. There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells.'**

"And now it's all going to go to pot," sighed _Harry_.

"Go to what?" asked Arthur.

"Err, go bad,"_ Harry_ explained.

**There was a short silence in which many members of the class turned their heads to frown at the three course aims still written on the blackboard.**

**'Using defensive spells?' Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. 'Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?'**

"And when we're not in class?" asked Luna.

"Well, I can't say she's very bright," said Remus dismissively.

**'We're not going to use magic?' Ron exclaimed loudly.**

**'Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr - ?'**

**'Weasley,' said Ron, thrusting his hand into the air.**

**Professor Umbridge, smiling still more widely, turned her back on him. **

"Cause I'm a Weasley," explained _Ron_ causing the confused looks he was getting turned to scowls.

**Harry and Hermione immediately raised their hands too. Professor Umbridge's pouchy eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before she addressed Hermione.**

**'Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?'**

**'Yes,' said Hermione. 'Surely the whole point of Defence Against the Dark Arts is to practise defensive spells?'**

"You would think so wouldn't you," growled Moody.

**'Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?' asked Professor Umbridge, in her falsely sweet voice.**

"No, but I'll bet she isn't either," sneered Hermione.

"Like they would have legally let her be a proper teacher," scoffed _Ron_ once again causing some of the adults to pale at the thought of what Umbridge could have possible done.

**'No, but - '**

**'Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the "whole point" of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new programme of study. **

"You'd be hard pressed to find a wizard that was cleverer than Hermione," said Remus as the others nodded and Hermione blushed.

**You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way - '**

**'What use is that?' said Harry loudly. 'If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a - '**

**'Hand, Mr Potter!' sang Professor Umbridge.**

**Harry thrust his fist in the air. Again, Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from him, but now several other people had their hands up, too.**

"Good, don't let her get away with it," praised Moody as Tonks nodded, for once agreeing with him whole heartedly.

**'And your name is?' Professor Umbridge said to Dean.**

**'Dean Thomas.'**

**'Well, Mr Thomas?'**

**'Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it?' said Dean. 'If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk free.'**

Harry was starting to get angry now, if the stupid woman had it in her head that they were going to be in a _classroom setting_ for the rest of their lives she had another thing coming.

**'I repeat,' said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very irritating fashion at Dean, 'do you expect to be attacked during my classes?'**

"Only in detention," muttered _Harry_ once again absently rubbing his hand.

**'No, but - '**

**Professor Umbridge talked over him. 'I do not wish to criticise the way things have been run in this school,' she said, an unconvincing smile stretching her wide mouth, 'but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed - not to mention,' she gave a nasty little laugh, 'extremely dangerous half-breeds.'**

Sirius growled sounding very much like Padfoot as other hisses sounded around the room. Tonks's hair had gone almost blood red as she seethed at the Umbridge in the book.

**'If you mean Professor Lupin,' piped up Dean angrily, 'he was the best we ever –**

"Yeah and once the jobs no longer jinxed he can have it back," said Harry furiously.

"Harry I-" Remus started but was cut off by Dumbledore,

"The position will always be open to you should you choose to come back," he said kindly. _Harry_ smiled sadly at the thought, at least this time Remus wouldn't have such a hard time worrying about not being able to support Tonks and Teddy because once this war was over for good, Remus would have a job waiting for him, and by Merlin was _Harry_ going to make sure he got it.

**'Hand, Mr Thomas! As I was saying - you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group and potentially lethal. **

"I'm fairly certain that the Killing Curse in a little more than 'potentially lethal'," barked Moody.

**You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day - '**

**'No we haven't,' Hermione said, 'we just - '**

**'Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!'**

"And I'm over it," muttered Ginny to Harry, who laughed causing her to blush.

**Hermione put up her hand. Professor Umbridge turned away from her.**

**'It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you.'**

**'Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?' said Dean hotly. 'Mind you, we still learned loads.'**

"Funny that," joked Fred trying to lighten the rapidly deteriorating mood, not that it worked or anything, but still.

**'Your hand is not up, Mr Thomas!' trilled Professor Umbridge. 'Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?' she added, staring at Parvati, whose hand had just shot up.**

**'Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defence Against**

**the Dark Arts OWL? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter-curses and things?'**

"Oh god," muttered Hermione as she realised where Umbridge was going with her line of thinking.

**As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions,' said Professor Umbridge dismissively.**

"So we are expected to just be able to do them the first time?" cried Ron incredulously.

"Apparently," said Hermione stiffly.

**'Without ever practising them beforehand?' said Parvati incredulously. Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?'**

"Dumbledore, you have to do something about this, it's completely unfair to the students," cried Emmeline.

"I will try my hardest to find a better teacher but I can't make promises, this may be one thing that we can't change," he replied grimacing.

**'I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough - '**

**And what good's theory going to be in the real world?' said Harry loudly, his fist in the air again.**

"Oh no," moaned Hermione.

**Professor Umbridge looked up.**

**'This is school, Mr Potter, not the real world,' she said softly.**

**'So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting for us out there?'**

**'There is nothing waiting out there, Mr Potter.'**

**'Oh, yeah?' said Harry. His temper, which seemed to have been bubbling just beneath the surface all day, was reaching boiling point.**

"You need to keep your head around her Cub, that's how she gets things to go the way she wants and she loves punishment," said Remus careful of Harry temper which he could she bubbling behind his eyes.

**'Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?' enquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice.**

**'Hmm, let's think . . .' said Harry in a mock thoughtful voice. 'Maybe . . . Lord Voldemort?'**

Harry was too mad to roll his eyes at the shudders around the room.

**Ron gasped; Lavender Brown uttered a little scream; Neville slipped sideways off his stool. Professor Umbridge, however, did not flinch. She was staring at Harry with a grimly satisfied expression on her face.**

"Please calm down Pup," whispered Sirius, pulling Harry gently back against him.

**'Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr Potter.'**

**The classroom was silent and still. Everyone was staring at either Umbridge or Harry.**

**'Now, let me make a few things quite plain.'**

**Professor Umbridge stood up and leaned towards them, her stubby-fingered hands splayed on her desk.**

**'You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead - '**

**'He wasn't dead,' said Harry angrily, 'but yeah, he's returned!'**

Sirius could feel the anger burning beneath Harry's skin as he pulled Harry up onto his lap in a bid to calm the teenager down. He glanced across the room at the older Harry who was also red in the face with anger at the old memory long forgotten that had been brought back to the surface by the book.

**'Mr-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-house-ten-po ints-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself,' said Professor Umbridge in one breath without looking at him. 'As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie.'**

**'It is NOT a lie!' said Harry. 'I saw him, I fought him!'**

At those words the glass vial that had previously held the memory they had seen at lunch shattered and Harry shook with anger. Harry was barely stopping himself from shouting, why did he have to prove that Voldemort was trying to kill him, why would he even lie about it?

**'Detention, Mr Potter!' said Professor Umbridge triumphantly. **

"Avoid those," said _Ron_ darkly as_ Harry_ subconsciously rubbed the back of his hand.

"Why," asked Sirius, his eyes focused on _Harry_.

"You'll see," muttered _Harry_.

**Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. **

"I'd rather take my chances with a pack of Death Eaters rather than call _her_ a friend," muttered _Harry_ angrily.

**And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, "Basics for Beginners".'**

**Professor Umbridge sat down behind her desk. Harry, however, stood up. Everyone was staring at him; Seamus looked half-scared, half-fascinated.**

**'Harry, no!' Hermione whispered in a warning voice, tugging at his sleeve, but Harry jerked his arm out of her reach.**

**'So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?' Harry asked, his voice shaking.**

Kingsley paused in his reading to check if Harry was alright to continue. Harry took a deep breath and nodded for Kingsley to continue.

**There was a collective intake of breath from the class, for none of them, apart from Ron and Hermione, had ever heard Harry talk about what had happened on the night Cedric had died. They stared avidly from Harry to Professor Umbridge, who had raised her eyes and was staring at him without a trace of a fake smile on her face.**

**'Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident,' she said coldly.**

"He was murdered!" yelled Harry as Sirius pulled him further into his embrace, not willing to let Harry go should he crack at the seams. Perhaps Harry should stay with him again tonight, obviously he needed more time to talk about thinks that had happened in June.

**'It was murder,' said Harry. He could feel himself shaking. He had hardly spoken to anyone about this, least of all thirty eagerly listening classmates. 'Voldemort killed him and you know it.'**

Harry buried his face in Sirius's shoulder as he felt his eyes well with tears. He felt Emmeline run her fingers through his hair as Sirius rubbed his back, both of them trying to sooth his emotional state and for some strange reason he suddenly thought what good parents they would make, but then Kingsley ploughed on and the thought was forgotten.

**Professor Umbridge's face was quite blank. For a moment, Harry thought she was going to scream at him. Then she said, in her softest, most sweetly girlish voice, 'Come here, Mr Potter, dear.'**

"That had to be the most annoying think about her," _Harry_ said, his face blank.

"The fake sweetness thing?" asked _Ron_, his eyes flickering to each form of his best friend.

"Yeah, it drove me insane," replied _Harry_ which was probably meant to be in a joking tone, but his face was still blank and his eyes looked like fire.

**He kicked his chair aside, strode around Ron and Hermione and up to the teacher's desk. He could feel the rest of the class holding its breath. He felt so angry he did not care what happened next.**

Molly made a note to talk to Sirius and Remus, as well as Harry of course, about ways that Harry could control his anger without it getting him into trouble.

**Professor Umbridge pulled a small roll of pink parchment out of her handbag, stretched it out on the desk, dipped her quill into a bottle of ink and started scribbling, hunched over so that Harry could not see what she was writing. Nobody spoke. After a minute or so she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with her wand; it sealed itself seamlessly so that he could not open it.**

**Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear,' said Professor Umbridge, holding out the note to him.**

"She gave you a referral?" asked Hermione disbelievingly.

"What's a referral?" questioned Arthur confused.

"It's a note that a teacher gives a student to give to another teacher when they do something that the teacher doesn't want to deal with or wants a higher power to deal with," Hermione explain quickly.

"But they don't use those at Hogwarts," said George frowning.

"Exactly."

**He took it from her without saying a word, turned on his heel and left the room, not even looking back at Ron and Hermione, slamming the classroom door shut behind him. He walked very fast along the corridor, the note to McGonagall clutched tight in his hand, and turning a corner walked slap into Peeves the poltergeist, a wide-mouthed little man floating on his back in midair, juggling several inkwells.**

The room groaned as one, Peeves was the last person, well, poltergeist that Harry would what to deal with at the moment.

**'Why, it's Potty Wee Potter!' cackled Peeves, allowing two of the inkwells to fall to the ground where they smashed and spattered the walls with ink; Harry jumped backwards out of the way with a snarl.**

**'Get out of it, Peeves.'**

Harry muttered something unintelligible into Sirius's robes, but Sirius thought he heard something that would have made Molly blush.

**'Oooh, Crackpot's feeling cranky,' said Peeves, pursuing Harry along the corridor, leering as he zoomed along above him. 'What is; it this time, my fine Potty friend? Hearing voices? Seeing visions? Speaking in - ' Peeves blew a gigantic raspberry '- tongues?'**

"Leave me alone!" Harry growled, though it was slightly muffled by the fabric that was obscuring his mouth.

**'I said, leave me ALONE!' Harry shouted, running down the nearest flight of stairs, but Peeves merely slid down the banister on his back beside him.**

**'Oh, most think he's barking, the potty wee lad,**

**But some are more kindly and think he's just sad,**

**But Peevesy knows better and says that he's mad - '**

"SHUT UP!" yelled Harry, this time he had turned around to glare at the book, his eyes burning just as much as the Harry's across the room, though _Harry_ had managed to stay mostly silent during this time mostly to _Ron's_ iron grip on his forearm.

**'SHUT UP!'**

**A door to his left flew open and Professor McGonagall emerged from her office looking grim and slightly harassed.**

**'What on earth are you shouting about, Potter?' she snapped, as Peeves cackled gleefully and zoomed out of sight. 'Why aren't you in class?'**

**'I've been sent to see you,' said Harry stiffly.**

**'Sent? What do you mean, sent?'**

"Probably the first person in Hogwarts history to get a referral," George muttered to Fred who nodded, not wanting to make a joke about it right now, should he become on the receiving end of Harry's temper.

**He held out the note from Professor Umbridge. Professor McGonagall took it from him, frowning, slit it open with a tap of her wand, stretched it out and began to read. Her eyes zoomed from side to side behind their square spectacles as she read what Umbridge had written, and with each line they became narrower.**

**'Come in here, Potter.'**

**He followed her inside her study. The door closed automatically behind him.**

**'Well?' said Professor McGonagall, rounding on him. "Is this true?'**

**'Is what true?' Harry asked, rather more aggressively than he had intended. **

"Be polite, Harry, she didn't do anything to you," Molly chided lightly but didn't say anything else as Harry nodded slightly.

**'Professor?' he added, in an attempt to sound more polite.**

**'Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge?'**

**'Yes,' said Harry.**

**'You called her a liar?'**

**'Yes.'**

**'You told her He Who Must Not Be Named is back?'**

**'Yes.'**

**Professor McGonagall sat down behind her desk, watching Harry closely. Then she said, 'Have a biscuit, Potter.'**

"I love Minnie," laughed Sirius

"Did she just say have a biscuit?" asked Harry looking at his godfather.

"Yep, are you alright now?" asked Sirius, the fire under Harry's skin and in his eyes had dimmed and his heart rate had gone back to normal, but his pale skin was still flushed.

"Yeah I'm fine now," replied Harry as he moved to slide back onto the floor. Sirius nodded and let him go before taking Emmeline's hand and squeezing it in thanks. She smiled and sank back into her position pressed into his side, once again making him pray that she couldn't feel his heart race at her touch.

**'Have - what?'**

**'Have a biscuit,' she repeated impatiently, indicating a tartan tin lying on top of one of the piles of papers on her desk. 'And sit down.'**

**There had been a previous occasion when Harry, expecting to be caned **

"Caned?" asked Molly incredulously.

"Aunt Marge used to enjoy whacking me in the shins with her cane if I beat Dudley at musical chairs," said Harry tonelessly, not really thinking about what he had said, not that it mattered, it was a long time ago and there was nothing that could be done about it now. He was half expecting Sirius to shout and make a big deal about it, but Sirius who had gauged what Harry's reaction would be at the moment to any shouting merely replied,

"She's not your aunt," silently adding that they would talk about it later, something that seemed to be on its way to becoming a ritual, not that Harry minded.

**by Professor McGonagall, had instead been appointed by her to the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He sank into a chair opposite her and helped himself to a Ginger Newt, feeling just as confused and wrong-footed as he had done on that occasion.**

**Professor McGonagall set down Professor Umbridge's note and looked very seriously at Harry.**

**'Potter, you need to be careful.'**

"Listen to this Harry, it's some of the best advice you'll get this year,"_ Harry_ told himself.

**Harry swallowed his mouthful of Ginger Newt and stared at her. Her tone of voice was not at all what he was used to; it was not brisk, crisp and stern; it was low and anxious and somehow much more human than usual.**

**'Misbehaviour in Dolores Umbridge's class could cost you much more than house points and a detention.'**

**'What do you - ?'**

**'Potter, use your common sense,' snapped Professor McGonagall, with an abrupt return to her usual manner. 'You know where she comes from, you must know to whom she is reporting.'**

"The Ministry," Harry whispered to himself.

**The bell rang for the end of the lesson. Overhead and all around came the elephantine sounds of hundreds of students on the move.**

**'It says here she's given you detention every evening this week, starting tomorrow,' Professor McGonagall said, looking down at Umbridge's note again.**

**'Every evening this week!' Harry repeated, horrified. 'But, Professor, couldn't you - ?'**

"Every night!" cried the students horrified.

**'No, I couldn't,' said Professor McGonagall flatly.**

**'But - '**

**'She is your teacher and has every right to give you detention. You will go to her room at five o'clock tomorrow for the first one. Just remember: tread carefully around Dolores Umbridge.'**

"Especially if it involves detention," repeated _Ron_ trying to emphasise his point about avoiding detentions with Umbridge.

**'But I was telling the truth!' said Harry, outraged. 'Voldemort is back, you know he is; Professor Dumbledore knows he is - '**

"Open your eyes Potter, this isn't about what the truth is, it's about the Ministry gaining power at Hogwarts and giving Umbridge more power," barked Moody.

**'For heaven's sake, Potter!' said Professor McGonagall, straightening her glasses angrily (she had winced horribly when he had used Voldemort's name). 'Do you really think this is about truth or lies? It's about keeping your head down and your temper under control!'**

"Exactly," muttered Moody.

**She stood up, nostrils wide and mouth very thin, and Harry stood up, too.**

**'Have another biscuit,' she said irritably, thrusting the tin at him.**

**'No, thanks,' said Harry coldly.**

**'Don't be ridiculous,' she snapped.**

"I didn't know it was ridiculous to not want a biscuit," commented Fred lightly, earning a few chuckles as the chapter ended.

**He took one.**

**Thanks,' he said grudgingly.**

**'Didn't you listen to Dolores Umbridge's speech at the start-of-term feast, Potter?'**

**'Yeah,' said Harry. 'Yeah . . . she said . . . progress will be prohibited or . . . well, it meant that . . . that the Ministry of Magic is trying to interfere at Hogwarts.'**

"It's nice to know that you listen to me," said Hermione rolling her eyes as Harry shrugged smiling slightly.

**Professor McGonagall eyed him closely for a moment, then sniffed, walked around her desk and held open the door for him.**

**'Well, I'm glad you listen to Hermione Granger at any rate,' she said, pointing him out of her office.**

"That's the end of the chapter," said Kingsley closing the book and setting it on the coffee table as silence took over the room.

"Look at the time, only two more chapters and then I want everyone in bed," said Molly looking sternly around the room spotting a few yawns here and there as the excitement left and the weariness kicked in.

"I'll read next," said Luna as she gingerly picked up the book and opened it to the next chapter. Clearing her throat she read out in her dreamy voice, '**Detention with Delores**,"

* * *

***I'm going by his robes in the last movie. Also how do you guys think I'm going with Dumbledore, I have issues keeping him in charatcer...**


	19. Dention with Delores

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling. Sirius gets a little bit clucky in this chapter but since its the detention chapter I say he's allowed to :) Please review, tell me what you thing of their reactions.**

* * *

"**Detention with Delores**" read Luna, her eyes flitting momentarily to Harry. She took a breath but before she could start reading _Harry_ interrupted her,

"Sorry Luna, but I need to speak to younger me first," he said as he stood. Harry nodded as he glanced between the grim look on the Headmaster's face and the determined look on _Harry's_.

They walked together in silence to one of the empty rooms down the hall; _Harry_ pushed open the door and beckoned his younger self, who was standing hesitantly at the door, to sit next to him on the floor. They would have sat on the bed, but the room hadn't been cleaned properly yet so it was likely that the bed could eat them or something, which for all they had been through, neither of the Harry's was willing to risk.

"How are you feeling?" asked _Harry_ as his younger counterpart sat down.

"I'm fine," replied Harry automatically, staring at a spot on the floor in front of him.

_Harry_ chuckled, "Fine, he says," then poking Harry in the shoulder to make him face him added, "That line doesn't work with me remember, that's my line, well, our line, so I know exactly what it means."

"Sorry, force of habit," smiled Harry sheepishly, he had been so caught up in his thoughts that he had forgotten that he was talking to himself, crazy as that sounded. "I-I just can't…" he trailed off, not really knowing how to put what he was feeling, but as he was talking to himself, that didn't seem to be a problem.

"Listen, you don't have to explain what you are feeling to me, I know what you are feeling and why but you need to try and keep your emotions under control," said _Harry._

"I know, it's just in the book, when she called me a liar it just got to me…" Harry trailed off again.

"It reminded you of the Dursley's, and every other person that has ever called you 'a nasty little liar'," finished _Harry_.

"Exactly, but that wasn't the worst part, I could feel something, it was me but it wasn't me, but I can't always tell when it is me, does that even make sense, or am I actually going crazy?" asked Harry removing his glasses to rub his eyes as _Harry_ sighed.

"Dumbledore doesn't want me to tell you this and I understand his reasons, but this isn't going to work unless you know-" said _Harry_ before Harry cut his future self off,

"Is that what you and Dumbledore were talking about in there?" asked Harry as _Harry _smiled slightly.

"Yeah, but it's more complicated than I can really explain,"

"Is it a good reason? I mean for him ignoring me, is it a good reason?"

"Yes, well he thinks it is. Dumbledore is a great man but he gets caught up in the bigger picture. He's got an entire war to worry about, not just you so don't take him ignoring you personally. The book will be able to explain better than me and quicker than Dumbledore, but we are getting off track, the point of this was, the emotions you're feeling, especially the anger is being amplified by what Voldemort is feeling," said _Harry_ rambling as he tried to keep his thoughts in line.

"So when I broke the vial in there, that wasn't me?" asked Harry slightly confused.

"Yes, well sort of, like I said it's hard to explain, and you'll see what I mean in the book," replied _Harry_ as he stood up and stretched. "Come on, the others will be getting worried, oh, you might want to sit with Sirius and Remus for this chapter," he added as they walked back to the room.

"Why, is it bad?"

"Let's just say it's intense and leave it at that," _Harry _answered, his fingers running over the scar on his hand absently behind his back.

They re-joined the others in the room, _Harry_ claiming his usual seat next to _Ron_, while Harry took his older self's advice and sat in the space between Sirius and Remus on their lounge.

"Can I read now?" asked Luna, her soft voice breaking the momentary silence that had settled in the room when the boys had entered.

"Of course Luna," smiled _Harry_, trying to stay as cheerful for this chapter as possible.

**Dinner in the Great Hall that night was not a pleasant experience for Harry. The news about his shouting match with Umbridge had travelled exceptionally fast even by Hogwarts' standards. He heard whispers all around him as he sat eating between Ron and Hermione. **

_Cheerful_ in a chapter about Umbridge that begins with people whispering about him, _yeah that's probably not going to happen_ thought _Harry_ to himself as Luna continued reading.

**The funny thing was that none of the whisperers seemed to mind him overhearing what they were saying about him. On the contrary, it was as though they were hoping he would get angry and start shouting again, so that they could hear his story first-hand.**

"Even if that wasn't their reason, it's still odd to hear to shout mate," said Fred.

"Yeah, you're usually so quiet," added George frowning.

"I wouldn't say he was quiet, he just doesn't shout often," amended Hermione as Ron shot the Twins an incredulous look.

**'He says he saw Cedric Diggory murdered . . .'**

**'He reckons he duelled with You-Know-Who . . .'**

**'Come off it . . .'**

**'Who does he think he's kidding?'**

**'Pur-lease . . .'**

Harry closed his eyes as a fresh wave of anger rolled over him. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks as his scar prickled, _just breathe_ he told himself. Harry opened his eyes to see everyone looking at him like he was about to freak out on them again, which of course did nothing to improve his temper.

"It's rude to stare," said Luna, her musical voice drifting across the room. The others blinked as if they hadn't realised they were staring and after murmuring sorry they turned their attention back to the story.

**'What I don't get,' said Harry through clenched teeth, laying down his knife and fork (his hands were shaking too much to hold them steady), 'is why they all believed the story two months ago when Dumbledore told them . . .'**

"I've been wondering that myself actually," said Harry.

"Well I'd be a little worried if you weren't having the same thoughts as yourself," Sirius laughed lightly in Harry's ear.

"Oh, shut up, that's not what I meant and you know it," replied Harry as he lightly elbowed Sirius in the ribs.

'**The thing is, Harry, I'm not sure they did,' said Hermione grimly.**

"What do you mean?" Harry asked looking down at Hermione as she bit her lip.

"If I'm thinking what I think I'm thinking it'll be in the book," she said as Harry pouted. _Maybe he is bipolar_ she thought to herself before dismissing the thought completely.

**'Oh, let's get out of here.'**

**She slammed down her own knife and fork; Ron looked longingly at his half-finished apple pie but followed suit. People stared at them all the way out of the Hall.**

**'What d'you mean, you're not sure they believed Dumbledore?' Harry asked Hermione when they reached the first-floor landing.**

"Just because he's Dumbledore doesn't mean that people are automatically going to believe him, especially after what the Prophet has been saying," shrugged Hermione.

**'Look, you don't understand what it was like after it happened,' said Hermione quietly. 'You arrived back in the middle of the lawn clutching Cedric's dead body . . . none of us saw what what happened in the maze . . . we just had Dumbledore's word for it that You-Know-Who had come back and killed Cedric and fought you.'**

"And it's true!" cried Harry

"We know Harry!" cried Ron and Hermione back at him.

**'Which is the truth!' said Harry loudly.**

**'I know it is, Harry, so will you please stop biting my head off?' said Hermione wearily. 'It's just that before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how you're a nutcase and Dumbledore's going senile!'**

"And because of that Voldemort has the advantage," growled Moody.

**Rain pounded on the windowpanes as they strode along the empty corridors back to Gryffindor Tower. Harry felt as though his first day had lasted a week, but he still had a mountain of homework to do before bed. A dull pounding pain was developing over his right eye. He glanced out of a rain-washed window at the dark grounds as they turned into the Fat Lady's corridor. There was still no light in Hagrid's cabin.**

"He'll be back soon," said Arthur, trying to comfort Harry who smiled slightly at the gesture.

**'Mimbulus mimbletonia,' said Hermione, before the Fat Lady could ask. The portrait swung open to reveal the hole behind it and the three of them scrambled through it.**

**The common room was almost empty; nearly everyone was still down at dinner. Crookshanks uncoiled himself from an armchair and trotted to meet them, purring loudly, and when Harry, Ron and Hermione took their three favourite chairs at the fireside he leapt lightly on to Hermione's lap and curled up there like a furry ginger cushion. Harry gazed into the flames, feeling drained and exhausted.**

"Then go to bed, you won't get any proper work done when you are feeling like that," said Remus.

**'How can Dumbledore have let this happen?' Hermione cried suddenly, making Harry and Ron jump; Crookshanks leapt off her, looking affronted. She pounded the arms of her chair in fury, so that bits of stuffing leaked out of the holes. 'How can he let that terrible woman teach us? And in our OWL year, too!'**

"Sorry Professor," said Hermione, her face pink as Dumbledore smiled kindly at her and waved off her apology.

**'Well, we've never had great Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, have we?' said Harry. 'You know what it's like, Hagrid told us, nobody wants the job; they say it's jinxed.'**

"It is jinxed," mumbled _Harry_ thinking of the scene he had seen in Dumbledore's memories.

**'Yes, but to employ someone who's actually refusing to let us do magic! What's Dumbledore playing at?'**

**'And she's trying to get people to spy for her,' said Ron darkly. 'Remember when she said she wanted us to come and tell her if we hear anyone saying You-Know-Who's back?'**

**'Of course she's here to spy on us all, that's obvious, why else would Fudge have wanted her to come?' snapped Hermione.**

"To keep an eye on Dumbledore, and make sure he isn't going to raise an army to take on the Ministry or whatever other mental thing the Minister thinks he's going to do," retorted Ron.

**'Don't start arguing again,' said Harry wearily, as Ron opened his mouth to retaliate.**

"With Ron and Hermione constantly arguing and Harry biting both your heads off, I'm surprised one of you haven't snapped and cursed the other two yet," Tonks joked feebly looking at the Trio and the two time travellers. _Ron_ paled as _Harry_ snorted causing the rest of the room to look at them curiously.

"Yeah well, we don't want to spoil it for you," was all _Ron_ said in reply as _Harry_ laughed again, leaving the others to wonder who had snapped, why and whether or not it would be in the books.

**'Can't we just. . . let's just do that homework, get it out of the way. . .'**

**They collected their schoolbags from a corner and returned to the chairs by the fire. People were coming back from dinner now. Harry kept his face averted from the portrait hole, but could still sense the stares he was attracting.**

**'Shall we do Snape's stuff first?' said Ron, dipping his quill into his ink. "The properties. . . of moonstone. . . and its uses . . . in potion-making. . ." ' he muttered, writing the words across the top of his parchment as he spoke them. There.' He underlined the title, then looked up expectantly at Hermione.**

Hermione rolled her eyes as Ron sunk down in his seat to avoid Molly's glare.

**'So, what are the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making?'**

**But Hermione was not listening; she was squinting over into the far corner of the room, where Fred, George and Lee Jordan were now sitting at the centre of a knot of innocent-looking first-years, all of whom were chewing something that seemed to have come out of a large paper bag that Fred was holding.**

"Fred and George Weasley, how dare you use those things on first years, you could kill them," growled Molly.

"We aren't going to kill them," retorted George.

"And how do you know that?" asked Molly her stare steady on her sons.

"Because every time you threw out months of work, we had to start again, so we know how to make them by heart now," said Fred.

"Wait, months of work, when was this?" asked Bill.

"The toffies that she got rid of just before the world cup took us six months to make and the extendable ears took us just as long to develop," mumbled George resentfully, thinking of all their time and money that had been wasted by their own mother.

**'No, I'm sorry, they've gone too far,' she said, standing up and looking positively furious. 'Come on, Ron.'**

**'I - what?' said Ron, plainly playing for time. 'No - come on, Hermione - we can't tell them off for giving out sweets.'**

"Nice try," laughed Sirius as Ron dodged the pillow Hermione tried to smack him with.

**'You know perfectly well that those are bits of Nosebleed Nougat or - or Puking Pastilles or - '**

**'Fainting Fancies?' Harry suggested quietly.**

"Don't you start," Hermione growled, tossing a pillow up at Harry.

"Ow, not fair I can't dodge up here," complained Harry as the pillow hit him.

**One by one, as though hit over the head with an invisible mallet, the first-years were slumping unconscious in their seats; some slid right on to the floor, others merely hung over the arms of their chairs, their tongues lolling out. **

"Wow, that's really effective," said Tonks in awe.

**Most of the people watching were laughing; Hermione, however, squared her shoulders and marched directly over to where Fred and George now stood with clipboards, closely observing the unconscious first-years. **

_Uh-oh_ was the only thought running through the Twins minds.

**Ron rose halfway out of his chair, hovered uncertainly for a moment or two, then muttered to Harry, 'She's got it under control,' before sinking as low in his chair as his lanky frame permitted.**

"Thanks a lot Ron," muttered Hermione.

"Sorry," Ron whispered sheepishly as Hermione glare softened slightly.

**That's enough!' Hermione said forcefully to Fred and George, both of whom looked up in mild surprise.**

**'Yeah, you're right,' said George, nodding, 'this dosage looks strong enough, doesn't it?'**

"I don't think that's what she meant boys," said Arthur shaking his head.

**'I told you this morning, you can't test your rubbish on students!'**

**'We're paying them!' said Fred indignantly.**

**'I don't care, it could be dangerous!'**

"Exactly," agreed Molly nodding.

"It's completely safe, we aren't going to test things on students if we know they aren't safe," said Fred, once again reframing from rolling his eyes at Hermione and his mother's doubts.

**'Rubbish,' said Fred.**

**'Calm clown, Hermione, they're fine!' said Lee reassuringly as he walked from first-year to first-year, inserting purple sweets into their open mouths.**

**'Yeah, look, they're coming round now,' said George.**

**A few of the first-years were indeed stirring. Several looked so shocked to find themselves lying on the floor, or dangling off their chairs, that Harry was sure Fred and George had not warned them what the sweets were going to do.**

"I think for future reference boys, you will be required to tell the testers what exactly will happen to them," said Dumbledore eyeing each Twin.

**'Feel all right?' said George kindly to a small dark-haired girl lying at his feet.**

**'I - I think so,' she said shakily.**

**'Excellent,' said Fred happily, but the next second Hermione had snatched both his clipboard and the paper bag of Fainting Fancies from his hands.**

**'It is NOT excellent!'**

**'Course it is, they're alive, aren't they?' said Fred angrily.**

**'You can't do this, what if you made one of them really ill?'**

**'We're not going to make them ill, we've already tested them all on ourselves, this is just to see if everyone reacts the same - '**

"And what exactly are you going to do if somebody reacts differently?" scowled Molly.

"We know every single ingredient and charm on those things that we would easily be able to fix it if something went wrong," defended George.

_Harry_ and _Ron_ however winced remembering what had happened to Alicia, the Twins would have to learn that one the hard way.

**'If you don't stop doing it, I'm going to - '**

**'Put us in detention?' said Fred, in an I'd-like-to-see-you-try-it voice.**

**'Make us write lines?' said George, smirking.**

Harry and Ron snorted as their older counter parts snickered, as the Twins gave Hermione a wary look.

**Onlookers all over the room were laughing. Hermione drew herself up to her full height; her eyes were narrowed and her bushy hair seemed to crackle with electricity.**

**'No,' she said, her voice quivering with anger, 'but I will write to your mother.'**

"You wouldn't!" the Twins cried horrified as both sets of Harry and Ron and a few others around the room laughed at the looks on their faces.

**'You wouldn't,' said George, horrified, taking a step back from her.**

**'Oh, yes, I would,' said Hermione grimly. 'I can't stop you eating the stupid things yourselves, but you're not to give them to the first-years,'**

**Fred and George looked thunderstruck. It was clear that as far as they were concerned, Hermione's threat was way below the belt. With a last threatening look at them, she thrust Fred's clipboard and the bag of Fancies back into his arms, and stalked back to her chair by the fire.**

"I don't know what you two are looking so scandalised about," said Sirius looking at Fred and George.

"That was way out of line, besides you are supposed to be on our side, you're a Marauder!" retorted Fred looking incredulous as Remus chuckled,

"Sirius was always a master at finding loopholes and Hermione has just handed you a huge one," Remus laughed at the confused look from the Twins.

"And I thought you two were smart!" exclaimed Sirius, "She technically just told you not to give them to the first years, everyone else is fair game."

"Hermione!" groaned Molly as she processed what Sirius had said and Hermione blushed.

"I-I'm sure I didn't do it on purpose," said Hermione unconvincingly.

**Ron was now so low in his seat that his nose was roughly level with his knees.**

**Thank you for your support, Ron,' Hermione said acidly.**

**'You handled it fine by yourself,' Ron mumbled.**

**Hermione stared down at her blank piece of parchment for a few seconds, then said edgily, 'Oh, it's no good, I can't concentrate now. I'm going to bed.'**

**She wrenched her bag open; Harry thought she was about to put her books away, but instead she pulled out two misshapen woolly objects, placed them carefully on a table by the fireplace, covered them with a few screwed-up bits of parchment and a broken quill and stood back to admire the effect.**

"Oh Merlin," mumbled _Ron_.

"What? What is she doing?" asked Tonks confused at the looks on _Ron _and _Harry's _faces.

"You'll see," _Ron_ replied wearily, his and Hermione's fight over the house-elves had been one of the longest they had had that year and although he could now see Hermione's point, _Ron_ maintained that the way she had gone about putting her ideas into action had caused nothing but trouble.

**'What in the name of Merlin are you doing?' said Ron, watching her as though fearful for her sanity.**

**They're hats for house-elves,' she said briskly now stuffing her books back into her bag. 'I did them over the summer. I'm a really slow knitter without magic but now I'm back at school I should be able to make lots more.'**

"Hats for the house-elves?" repeated Bill incredulously.

"What's wrong with that?" demanded Hermione, she believed that house-elves should free and this seemed like a perfect way of putting it into action. Bill was about to answer but Luna's voice became a little louder and all attention was diverted back to her.

**'You're leaving out hats for the house-elves?' said Ron slowly. 'And you're covering them up with rubbish first?'**

**'Yes,' said Hermione defiantly, swinging her bag on to her back.**

**That's not on,' said Ron angrily. 'You're trying to trick them into picking up the hats. You're setting them free when they might not want to be free.'**

"I don't think you are allowed to do that," added Luna, her eyes flickering from the girl in front of her to Dumbledore who nodded in agreement.

"Miss Granger, I think you will find that you do not have the right nor the power to free the house-elves no matter how good of your intentions," remarked Dumbledore, trying to sound as kind as possible.

**'Of course they want to be free!' said Hermione at once, though**

**her face was turning pink. 'Don't you dare touch those hats, Ron!'**

"I'm sorry Hermione but it's not right, you can't try and trick them into something they don't want," said _Ron_ quietly as Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the floor, her cheeks pink.

**She turned on her heel and left. Ron waited until she had disappeared through the door to the girls' dormitories, then cleared the rubbish off the woolly hats.**

_Ron_ sighed as he saw Hermione glower at his younger self,

"You'll get there one day," laughed _Harry_ in _Ron's_ ear, who was also watching the two teenagers a very heated, yet still completely silent conversation.

**They should at least see what they're picking up,' he said firmly. 'Anyway . . .' he rolled up the parchment on which he had written the title of Snape's essay, 'there's no point trying to finish this now, I can't do it without Hermione, I haven't got a clue what you're supposed to do with moonstones, have you?'**

"That's what research is for Ronald," huffed Hermione, her arms folded across her chest.

**Harry shook his head, noticing as he did so that the ache in his right temple was getting worse. He thought of the long essay on giant wars and the pain stabbed at him sharply. Knowing perfectly well that when the morning came, he would regret not finishing his homework that night, he piled his books back into his bag.**

**'I'm going to bed too.'**

"You'll regret it sure, but at least you won't be trying to do school work with a migraine," smiled Remus.

"Not that it ever stopped you," retorted Sirius.

"I learnt my lesson though," laughed Remus remembering having to ask Madame Pomphrey for something for his headache only to be lectured for half-an-hour on the importance of rest and recuperation.

**He passed Seamus on the way to the door leading to the dormitories, but did not look at him. Harry had a fleeting impression that Seamus had opened his mouth to speak, but he sped up and reached the soothing peace of the stone spiral staircase without having to endure any more provocation.**

"Do you know what he was going to say?" asked Kingsley interestedly.

"No, he never said, even when he started talking to me again, so I think it may have been something that I wouldn't like very much. But then again it could have been an apology," replied _Harry_.

"So in other words, you have no idea," laughed Kingsley as _Harry_ grinned and nodded.

**The following day dawned just as leaden and rainy as the previous one. Hagrid was still absent from the staff table at breakfast.**

**'But on the plus side, no Snape today,' said Ron bracingly.**

**Hermione yawned widely and poured herself some coffee. She looked mildly pleased about something, and when Ron asked her what she had to be so happy about, she simply said, 'The hats have gone. Seems the house-elves do want freedom after all.'**

"Somehow I don't think that is what happened to them," Sirius muttered to Remus.

**'I wouldn't bet on it,' Ron told her cuttingly. They might not count as clothes. They didn't look anything like hats to me, more like woolly bladders.'**

**Hermione did not speak to him all morning.**

"Business as usual then," sighed Harry looking down at his two best friends as they glared at each other again. He was fairly certain that it was Hermione that _Ron_ was dating in the future, but looking at them now he had no clue how they did it, maybe they fought less when they were together. Harry snorted, _yeah right_.

**Double Charms was succeeded by double Transfiguration. Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall both spent the first fifteen minutes of their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of OWLs.**

"You know by the end of that term I knew more about the importance of OWLs then I knew about the actual work," said Tonks absently tracing swirls on the back of Remus's hand as she listened to Luna's dreamy voice.

Remus on the other hand was trying to talk himself into pulling his hand away; '_she's too young'_ he once again tried to convince himself. He was almost successful too, but then she flipped his hand and traced over his pulse, which in turned caused his heart to skip a beat. '_Go on, you know you want to'_ said the voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Sirius. '_She's too young'_ Remus repeated to himself. Tonks ran her fingers back over his pulse as she listened to Luna reading, completely oblivious to the fact that Remus felt like he was going to explode with indecision, '_who cares if she's too young you're reading a book about the bloody future'_ yelled the annoying voice that definitely sounded like Sirius_, 'you'll find out if anything bad happens anyway!'_

"Alright!" said Remus, hoping he hadn't said it too loudly -but judging from the mix of shocked and curious faces as well as two annoying grins from Sirius and Harry- he had.

"Are you alright Remus?" asked Tonks looking at him closely as he cleared his throat.

"I'm fine, continue reading Luna," he muttered trying to keep the blush off his face.

**'What you must remember,' said little Professor Flitwick squeakily, perched as ever on a pile of books so that he could see over the top of his desk, 'is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!'**

**They then spent over an hour revising Summoning Charms, which according to Professor Flitwick were bound to come up in their OWL, and he rounded off the lesson by setting them their largest ever amount of Charms homework.**

"I never thought it was a good idea to give the fifth years that much work straight away, I mean they are already going to be stressed enough as it is, they should be eased into it," said Molly frowning.

"Maybe, but this way they work out pretty quickly that it'll be hard work," shrugged Remus finally having his blush under control.

**It was the same, if not worse, in Transfiguration.**

**'You cannot pass an OWL,' said Professor McGonagall grimly, 'without serious application, practice and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an OWL in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work.' Neville made a sad little disbelieving noise. 'Yes, you too, Longbottom,' said Professor McGonagall. There's nothing wrong with your work except lack of confidence. So . . . today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until NEWT level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your OWL.'**

**She was quite right; Harry found the Vanishing Spells horribly difficult. **

"How long did it take dad to get it?" _Harry_ asked suddenly.

"Um," Sirius frowned trying desperately to remember, "It was his first, no, second attempt, yes his second because the first time he was concentrating on Lily instead of the snail and he only made the shell disappear, right Moony?" said he concluded turning the man next to him hoping he was right and his memory was returning properly.

"That is completely correct Sirius," Remus smiled at his friend then turned to face _Harry_, "I also believe he turned the snail red because he was focusing on 'the way that her hair cascaded down her back like a red waterfall' that's what he said anyway," he finished with a shrug as Sirius laughed.

"Yeah and then Lily heard and hexed him for his troubles," Emmeline added giggling at the memory.

"She hexed him?" asked Harry incredulously.

"That was fifth year, so they weren't exactly friends at that point in time," said _Harry_ before anyone else could say something. It wasn't that he didn't want his younger self to know the extent of his parents' relationship, it was just he was trying to avoid the big blow up he knew would come later in the book.

**By the end of a double period, neither he nor Ron had managed to vanish the snails on which they were practising, though Ron said hopefully he thought his looked a bit paler. **

"James was amazing at Transfiguration, and it was what his wand was suited for, so don't feel like you have to be as good as he was," Remus whispered in Harry's ear. "And from what I've seen you are much more attuned to Defence than James was," he added as an afterthought as Harry nodded smiling slightly at the information.

**Hermione, on the other hand, successfully vanished her snail on the third attempt, earning her a ten-point bonus for Gryffindor from Professor McGonagall. She was the only person not given homework; everybody else was told to practise the spell overnight, ready for a fresh attempt on their snails the following afternoon.**

**Now panicking slightly about the amount of homework they had to do, Harry and Ron spent their lunch hour in the library looking up the uses of moonstones in potion-making. Still angry about Ron's slur on her woolly hats, Hermione did not join them. **

"And this is how many days into the school term?" asked Ginny rolling her eyes at Ron and Hermione.

**By the time they reached Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon, Harry's head was aching again.**

"Is that like a side effect or something?" Harry asked his older self, much to the confusion of the room.

"I think so, I don't really remember but I'm pretty sure that it was," nodded _Harry_.

"What are you talking about?" asked Sirius shifting in his seat to look at his younger godson.

"Nothing horrible," said Harry offhandedly but then at Sirius's stern look he added, "I'll tell you later," then waved at Luna to continue.

**The day had become cool and breezy, and as they walked down the sloping lawn towards Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they felt the occasional drop of rain on their faces. Professor Grubbly-Plank stood waiting for the class some ten yards from Hagrid's front door, a long trestle table in front of her laden with twigs. As Harry and Ron reached her, a loud shout of laughter sounded behind them; turning, they saw Draco Malfoy striding towards them, surrounded by his usual gang of Slytherin cronies. **

"Just who we want to hear about," said Emmeline rolling her eyes at the book. She gave Sirius a small smile as she felt him brush his fingers over her knuckles in comfort.

**He had clearly just said something highly amusing, because Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and the rest continued to snigger heartily as they gathered around the trestle table and, judging by the way they all kept looking over at Harry, he was able to guess the subject of the joke without too much difficulty.**

By the end of this sentence Harry could hear a quaver of anger in Luna's dreamy voice. He wondered if that was one of the reasons he was friends with her, because she knew what it felt like to be whispered about as if she couldn't hear.

**'Everyone here?' barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, once all the Slytherins and Gryffindors had arrived. 'Let's crack on then. Who can tell me what these things are called?'**

**She indicated the heap of twigs in front of her. Hermione's hand shot into the air. Behind her back, Malfoy did a buck-toothed imitation of her jumping up and down in eagerness to answer a question. **

Harry and Ron glared at the book as Hermione blushed, her brow creasing. Did people really see her like that, not that she overly cared what other people thought about her, but it wasn't exactly how she wanted to be remembered either. However before she could dwell further on this _Ron's_ voice pulled her back to the present,

"Just ignore him as usual Hermione, the little twat'll get bored eventually," he told her.

"Is it a bad thing that I'm slightly jealous of my older self?" Ron whispered to Harry as he watched Hermione smiling at his older self.

"Um, probably, why?" whispered Harry back.

"He can actually talk to Hermione without getting his head bitten off, and he can tell what she's thinking," complained Ron.

"Well, he's what four, five years older than you?" Harry pointed out. Ron nodded and looked over at his older self who was grinning at him.

_Ron_ winked when he saw his younger self looking at him. _Harry was right, it is fun to mess with their heads_ he thought as his younger self blinked in confusion and turned away.

**Pansy Parkinson gave a shriek of laughter that turned almost at once into a scream, as the twigs on the table leapt into the air and revealed themselves to be what looked like tiny pixie-ish creatures made of wood, each with knobbly brown arms and legs, two twiglike fingers at the end of each hand and a funny flat, barklike face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes glittered.**

"That is actually a really accurate description," said Kingsley.

"Well, he's looking at it, so it's not going to be inaccurate is it?" asked Sirius grinning.

"That's not what you thought when he was describing you my friend," retorted Kingsley as Sirius huffed and Harry and Emmeline laughed at the pout on his face.

**'Oooooh!' said Parvati and Lavender, thoroughly irritating Harry. Anyone would have thought Hagrid had never shown them impressive creatures; admittedly, the Flobberworms had been a bit dull, but the Salamanders and Hippogriffs had been interesting enough, and the Blast-Ended Skrewts perhaps too much so.**

"I think maybe they should collaborate or something, you know, she could do all the boring creatures and Hagrid could do all of the interesting ones that normal people don't usual keep as pets," said _Ron_.

"What's wrong with just Hagrid?" asked Harry, his eyes narrowing as _Ron_ held his hands up in surrender.

"Nothing, but I think it'd just be easier, and you'd probably avoid Hagrid's breeding experiments," he said shrugging.

"I'll keep that in mind Mr Weasley," said Dumbledore nodding.

**'Kindly keep your voices down, girls!' said Professor Grubbly-Plank sharply, scattering a handful of what looked like brown rice among the stick-creatures, who immediately fell upon the food. 'So - anyone know the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?'**

"Bowtruckles," said Hermione automatically

**'Bowtruckles,' said Hermione. They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees.'**

**'Five points for Gryffindor,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank. 'Yes, these are Bowtruckles, and as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?'**

**'Woodlice,' said Hermione promptly, which explained why what Harry had taken to be grains of brown rice were moving. 'But fairy eggs if they can get them.'**

"So nothing that is even remotely appetising," shuddered Ron.

"I dunno there was that one point where I'd eat anything that wasn't a mushroom," said _Ron_ disagreeing with his younger self, only half joking.

"I don't even want to know," said Molly giving _Harry_ an odd look as he nodded in agreement with _Ron_.

**'Good girl, take another five points. So, whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which a Bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of woodlice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will try to gouge at human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs. So if you'd like to gather closer, take a few woodlice and a Bowtruckle - I have enough here for one between three - you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body-parts labelled by the end of the lesson.'**

"That actually sounds kind of pleasant," said Hermione and as much as he didn't want to, Harry found that he had to agree with Hermione's assessment.

**The class surged forwards around the trestle table. Harry deliberately circled around the back so that he ended up right next to Professor Grubbly-Plank.**

"Of course you did," Hermione and Ron sighed in sync.

"Did anyone else find that a little disturbing?" asked Bill.

"Nah, Sirius and James did it too often when we were younger," said Remus shrugging.

"Really?" asked Harry, twisting his upper body to look at Remus properly.

"Yeah, people thought they were twins if they hadn't met them before," interjected Emmeline before Remus could answer.

**'Where's Hagrid?' he asked her, while everyone else was choosing Bowtruckles.**

**'Never you mind,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank repressively, which had been her attitude last time Hagrid had failed to turn up for a class, too. Smirking all over his pointed face, Draco Malfoy leaned across Harry and seized the largest Bowtruckle.**

**'Maybe,' said Malfoy in an undertone, so that only Harry could hear him, 'the stupid great oaf's got himself badly injured.'**

**'Maybe you will if you don't shut up,' said Harry out of the side of his mouth.**

**'Maybe he's been messing with stuff that's too big for him, if you get my drift.'**

"I don't think that ol' Lucius will be very happy to know that his son's been giving away all of their intel," laughed Moody.

"Yeah first the jib about me and now Hagrid," smirked Sirius.

"I hadn't thought of that way, we should keep an eye on it," Hermione whispered to the boys as they nodded.

**Malfoy walked away, smirking over his shoulder at Harry, who felt suddenly sick. Did Malfoy know something? His father was a Death Eater after all; what if he had information about Hagrid's fate that had not yet reached the ears of the Order? **

"You definitely know that he is fine, don't you?" asked Harry slightly panicked.

"He's fine, he just got a little…distracted," said _Ron_, trying to sound reassuring.

"Dare I ask what has distracted the man?" asked Dumbledore looking half worried.

"Um, it'll be in the book," said _Harry_ awkwardly in reply, doing nothing to clear the tension in the room on what could possibly distract the gentle giant.

**He hurried back around the table to Ron and Hermione who were squatting on the grass some distance away and attempting to persuade a Bowtruckle to remain still long enough for them to draw it. Harry pulled out parchment and quill, crouched down beside the others and related in a whisper what Malfoy had just said.**

**'Dumbledore would know if something had happened to Hagrid,' said Hermione at once. 'It's just playing into Malfoy's hands to look worried; it tells him we don't know exactly what's going on. We've got to ignore him, Harry. Here, hold the Bowtruckle for a moment, just so I can draw its face . . .'**

**'Yes,' came Malfoy's clear drawl from the group nearest them, 'Father was talking to the Minister just a couple of days ago, you know, and it sounds as though the Ministry's really determined to crack down on sub-standard teaching in this place. So even if that overgrown moron does show up again, he'll probably be sent packing straightaway.'**

**'OUCH!'**

"What, what did you do now?" asked Molly frantically.

"Bowtruckles don't appreciate being snapped in half," quipped Luna causing an exhale and a few chuckles from the group as she continued.

**Harry had gripped the Bowtruckle so hard that it had almost snapped, and it had just taken a great retaliatory swipe at his hand with its sharp fingers, leaving two long deep cuts there. Harry dropped it. Crabbe and Goyle, who had already been guffawing at the idea of Hagrid being sacked, laughed still harder as the Bowtruckle set off at full tilt towards the Forest, a little moving stick-man soon swallowed up among the tree roots. **

"Well, small things do amuse small minds," scoffed Emmeline.

**When the bell echoed distantly over the grounds, Harry rolled up his blood-stained Bowtruckle picture and marched off to Herbology with his hand wrapped in Hermione's handkerchief, and Malfoy's derisive laughter still ringing in his ears.**

**'If he calls Hagrid a moron one more time . . .' said Harry through gritted teeth.**

**'Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy, don't forget, he's a prefect now, he could make life difficult for you . . .'**

**'Wow, I wonder what it'd be like to have a difficult life?' said Harry sarcastically. '**

Read Luna at the same time as Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Yes 'cause my life isn't already difficult," sarcastically.

"Harry, don't be rude to your friends," chided Sirius, lightly poking Harry in the ribs, who only nodded in response.

"Honestly, if you keep biting our heads off for every little thing, I swear…" trailed off Hermione, narrowing her eyes and pointing at Harry threateningly.

"I'll stop," Harry yelped as she smacked him on the foot.

**Ron laughed, but Hermione frowned. Together, they traipsed across the vegetable patch. The sky still appeared unable to make up its mind whether it wanted to rain or not.**

**'I just wish Hagrid would hurry up and get back, that's all,' said Harry in a low voice, as they reached the greenhouses. 'And don't say that Grubbly-Plank woman's a better teacher!' he added threateningly.**

"In some aspects she is though," commented Luna, but she continued reading before Harry could say anything else.

**'I wasn't going to,' said Hermione calmly.**

**'Because she'll never be as good as Hagrid,' said Harry firmly, fully aware that he had just experienced an exemplary Care of Magical Creatures lesson and was thoroughly annoyed about it.**

"See, you even agree with me, even if you don't want to admit it," Luna added to her previous statement, her eyes never leaving the page as she once again continued reading before Harry could comment.

**The door of the nearest greenhouse opened and some fourth-years spilled out of it, including Ginny.**

**'Hi,' she said brightly as she passed. A few seconds later, Luna Lovegood emerged, trailing behind the rest of the class, a smudge of earth on her nose, and her hair tied in a knot on the top of her head. **

"Got to love that, Ginny has less than a sentence and Luna gets a paragraph," said _Ron _snickered in _Harry's_ ear.

"Well, it's not like I knew her all that well at the time," _Harry_ defended as his eyes subconsciously drifted to Ginny who blushed when she saw him staring at her.

"Yeah but you knew Luna even less," countered _Ron_ diverting _Harry's_ attention away from his much-too-young sister for _Harry_ to be looking at her like that.

"Shut up," replied _Harry_ poking his tongue out and turning back to Luna.

**When she saw Harry, her prominent eyes seemed to bulge excitedly and she made a beeline straight for him. Many of his classmates turned curiously to watch. Luna took a great breath and then said, without so much as a preliminary hello, 'I believe He Who Must Not Be Named is back and I believe you fought him and escaped from him.'**

"Thanks Luna," Harry said brightly as she looked up at him and smiled before returning to the book.

**'Er - right,' said Harry awkwardly. Luna was wearing what looked like a pair of orange radishes for earrings, a fact that Parvati and Lavender seemed to have noticed, as they were both giggling and pointing at her earlobes.**

**'You can laugh,' Luna said, her voice rising, apparently under the impression that Parvati and Lavender were laughing at what she had said rather than what she was wearing, 'but people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!'**

Hermione bit her tongue to keep herself from saying anything, she was already on Luna's bad side and she was trying to at least get to know the younger girl, besides she was friends with Ginny so she couldn't be too out there.

**'Well, they were right, weren't they?' said Hermione impatiently. There weren't any such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.'**

Luna flashed a withering look at Hermione, but otherwise ignored the statement.

**Luna gave her a withering look and flounced away, radishes swinging madly. Parvati and Lavender were not the only ones hooting with laughter now.**

**'D'you mind not offending the only people who believe me?' Harry asked Hermione as they made their way into class.**

"Yeah, that could actually be pretty helpful Hermione," said Harry frowning down at his friend.

"I'm sorry Luna, I didn't mean to offend you," apologised Hermione blushing.

"Maybe not, but you're going to do it anyway," replied Luna in her dreamy voice as she indicated the book.

**'Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry, you can do better than her,' said Hermione. 'Ginny's told me all about her; apparently, she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs The Quibbler.'**

"I did not say that about Luna," exclaimed Ginny looking marginally offended that Hermione had put those words in her mouth.

"Sorry Ginny," Hermione apologised again, she'd never really gotten along with girls and now she'd insulted probably the only two that she'd ever truly be friends with, well if they forgave her anyway.

**Harry thought of the sinister winged horses he had seen on the night he had arrived and how Luna had said she could see them too. His spirits sank slightly. Had she been lying? **

"Lying doesn't gain anything, some people just aren't willing to believe in things they don't have proof of," remarked Luna, glancing at Hermione and Harry.

**But before he could devote much more thought to the matter, Ernie Macmillan had stepped up to him.**

**'I want you to know, Potter,' he said in a loud, carrying voice, 'that it's not only weirdos who support you. I personally believe you one hundred per cent. My family have always stood firm behind Dumbledore, and so do I.'**

"For now," muttered Ron.

"He was twelve, leave him alone," Hermione muttered back smacking him lightly on the arm.

**'Er - thanks very much, Ernie,' said Harry, taken aback but pleased. Ernie might be pompous on occasions like this, but Harry was in a mood to deeply appreciate a vote of confidence from somebody who did not have radishes dangling from their ears. **

**Ernie's words had certainly wiped the smile from Lavender Browns face and as he turned to talk to Ron and Hermione, Harry caught Seamus's expression, which looked both confused and defiant.**

**To nobody's surprise, Professor Sprout started their lesson by lecturing them about the importance of OWLs. Harry wished all the teachers would stop doing this; he was starting to get an anxious, twisted feeling in his stomach every time he remembered how much homework he had to do, a feeling that worsened dramatically when Professor Sprout gave them yet another essay at the end of class. **

"Yeah, I always got that right before bed, and then I couldn't sleep properly," said Tonks.

"Is that why you were always asleep at your desk when you first started out?" asked Moody smiling slyly.

**Tired and smelling strongly of dragon dung, Professor Sprouts preferred type of fertiliser, the Gryffindors trooped back up to the castle an hour and a half later, none of them talking very much; it had been another long day.**

**As Harry was starving, and he had his first detention with Umbridge at five o'clock, he headed straight for dinner without dropping off his bag in Gryffindor Tower so that he could bolt something down before facing whatever she had in store for him. He had barely reached the entrance of the Great Hall, however, when a loud and angry voice yelled, 'Oi, Potter!'**

"Now what am I in trouble for?" asked Harry rhetorically ignoring the snickering coming from the Twins.

**'What now?' he muttered wearily, turning to face Angelina Johnson, who looked as though she was in a towering temper.**

**'I'll tell you what now,' she said, marching straight up to him and poking him hard in the chest with her finger. 'How come you've landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?'**

"Oh mate you're done for," laughed George as the colour drained from Harry's face.

**'What?' said Harry. 'Why . . . oh yeah, Keeper tryouts!'**

**'Now he remembers!' snarled Angelina. 'Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team, and find someone who fitted in with everyone? Didn't I tell you I'd booked the Quidditch pitch specially? And now you've decided you're not going to be there!'**

"It's not like I did it on purpose!" yelled Harry, stung a little by her accusation.

**'I didn't decide not to be there!' said Harry, stung by the injustice of these words. 'I got detention from that Umbridge woman, just because I told her the truth about You-Know-Who.'**

**'Well, you can just go straight to her and ask her to let you off on Friday,' said Angelina fiercely, 'and I don't care how you do it. Tell her You-Know-Who's a figment of your imagination if you like, just make sure you're there!'**

"I doubt that would help my case, she'd probably send me off to St Mungo's or something the first chance she had," said _Harry_ shrugging.

**She turned on her heel and stormed away.**

**'You know what.?' Harry said to Ron and Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. 'I think we'd better check with Puddlemere United whether Oliver Wood's been killed during a training session, because Angelina seems to be channelling his spirit.'**

"She was a little more intense than usual," conceded Fred.

"You think?" asked Harry sarcastically as Fred grinned.

**'What d'you reckon are the odds of Umbridge letting you off on Friday?' said Ron sceptically, as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.**

**'Less than zero,' said Harry glumly, tipping lamb chops on to his plate and starting to eat. 'Better try, though, hadn't I? I'll offer to do two more detentions or something, I dunno . . .' He swallowed a mouthful of potato and added, 'I hope she doesn't keep me too long this evening. You realise we've got to write three essays, practise Vanishing Spells for McGonagall, work out a counter-charm for Flitwick, finish the Bowtruckle drawing and start that stupid dream diary for Trelawney?'**

Ron whistled, "I think I'll be happier once the year is over," he said quietly up to Harry who nodded from his position above Ron.

**Ron moaned and for some reason glanced up at the ceiling.**

**'And it looks like it's going to rain.'**

**'What's that got to do with our homework?' said Hermione, her eyebrows raised.**

"Oh, see this was a good idea, I understand that now," said _Harry_ smirking at _Ron_.

"Care to share?" asked Emmeline hopefully, but then she pouted when the two time travellers just grinned at her.

**'Nothing,' said Ron at once, his ears reddening.**

**At five to five Harry bade the other two goodbye and set off for Umbridge's office on the third floor. When he knocked on the door she called, 'Come in,' in a sugary voice. He entered cautiously, looking around.**

**He had known this office under three of its previous occupants.**

**In the days when Gilderoy Lockhart had lived here it had been plastered in beaming portraits of himself. When Lupin had occupied it, it was likely you would meet some fascinating Dark creature in a cage or tank if you came to call. In the impostor Moody's days it had been packed with various instruments and artefacts for the detection of wrongdoing and concealment.**

"So totally wicked looking, not counting the first one obviously," smiled Tonks as Remus blushed at her comment. "What did this one look like?" she asked eagerly.

"Well, if you let Miss Lovegood read then you might find out," grumbled Moody, as Tonks stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'll hex it off next time," Moody threatened, but Tonks just smiled sweetly at him and told Luna to keep reading.

**Now, however, it looked totally unrecognisable. The surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, each one residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large technicolour kitten wearing a different bow around its neck. **

_Harry_ laughed as he watched various faces mould into looks of horror, particularly Remus's at the description of his beloved office.

"What did she do to it?" he asked to no one in particular as he stared at the book in Luna's hand and as no one had an answer for him, Luna took this as her opportunity to start reading again.

**These were so foul that Harry stared at them, transfixed, until Professor Umbridge spoke again.**

**'Good evening, Mr Potter.'**

**Harry started and looked around. He had not noticed her at first because she was wearing a luridly flowered set of robes that blended only too well with the tablecloth on the desk behind her.**

"That is just disturbing," Emmeline shuddered.

**'Evening, Professor Umbridge,' Harry said stiffly.**

**'Well, sit down,' she said, pointing towards a small table draped in lace beside which she had drawn up a straight-backed chair. A piece of blank parchment lay on the table, apparently waiting for him.**

**'Er,' said Harry, without moving. 'Professor Umbridge. Er - before we start, I - I wanted to ask you a . . . a favour.'**

**Her bulging eyes narrowed.**

"Don't even bother next time, well this time, it won't work," _Harry _told his younger self.

**'Oh, yes?'**

**'Well, I'm . . . I'm in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new Keeper at five o'clock on Friday and I was - was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it - do it another night . . . instead . . .'**

**He knew long before he reached the end of his sentence that it was no good.**

**'Oh, no,' said Umbridge, smiling so widely that she looked as though she had just swallowed a particularly juicy fly. 'Oh, no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, **

"Evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories?" asked Ginny, "Is she for real?"

"Unfortunately," mumbled _Harry_.

**Mr Potter, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it rather a good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you.'**

"Try not to let her know how much Quidditch means to you as well," commented _Ron_.

"Why?" asked Ginny confused, _what did Quidditch have to do with it?_ she wondered.

"You'll find out," was all _Ron _said in reply.

**Harry felt the blood surge to his head and heard a thumping noise in his ears. So he told 'evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories', did he?**

"Don't get mad Cub, that's what she wants," Remus whispered quietly to Harry, who was shocked out of his anger when he heard the endearment. Remus had mentioned it before but Harry couldn't really remember actually hearing him say it all that much.

**She was watching him with her head slightly to one side, still smiling widely, as though she knew exactly what he was thinking and was waiting to see whether he would start shouting again. With a massive effort, Harry looked away from her, dropped his schoolbag beside the straight-backed chair and sat down.**

"Good, keep your emotions to yourself," nodded Moody.

**'There,' said Umbridge sweetly, 'we're getting better at controlling our temper already, aren't we? Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr Potter. No, not with your quill,' she added, as Harry bent down to open his bag. 'You're going to be using a rather special one of mine. Here you are.'**

**She handed him a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point.**

"Albus, tell me that that is not what I think it is," said Sirius glaring furiously at the book.

"I do believe it is," agreed the Headmaster, a cold fury seeping into his voice.

"What? What is it?" asked Harry wondering about Sirius's and Dumbledore's reaction to the quill.

"Let's just hope I'm wrong," replied Sirius pulling Harry closer to him.

**'I want you to write, I must not tell lies,' she told him softly.**

**'How many times?' Harry asked, with a creditable imitation of politeness.**

**'Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in,' said Umbridge sweetly. 'Off you go.'**

"_Sink in_," whispered Remus to himself, Tonks could almost see the cogs turning in his brain and was so focussed on him she jumped when he let out an angry growl at the book.

**She moved over to her desk, sat down and bent over a stack of parchment that looked like essays for marking. Harry raised the sharp black quill, then realised what was missing.**

**'You haven't given me any ink,' he said.**

There was a collective gasp in the room as the adults realised what was happening, but the younger teenagers still didn't know what was happening, much to Harry's frustration.

"Will someone please tell me what is happening?" he yelled.

"It's a blood quill," answered Moody, his voice a mixture of disgust and triumph. He had her now, he only needed something concrete and he and the other Auror's in the room would be able to take her down.

**'Oh, you won't need ink,' said Professor Umbridge, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice.**

**Harry placed the point of the quill on the paper and wrote: I must not tell lies.**

Harry's eyes narrowed as a flash of anger washed over him, knowing full well that it was his own, Harry gripped Sirius's hand tighter in a bid to stop himself from breaking anything else in the room, it _was_ new after all.

"You okay Pup?" Sirius asked flexing his fingers in Harry's grip.

"Yeah, what about you and Remus though?" Harry whispered back.

"We'll be fine," Sirius replied, disregarding the steely note in his voice and the amber colour swirling in Remus's eyes.

**He let out a gasp of pain. The words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining red ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Harry's right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel - yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth.**

Sirius and Remus growled at the book as the moved closer to Harry, subconsciously trying to shield him from what was happening. Harry himself was transfixed with the sheer bizarreness that was happening to him in the book. He was more or less being tortured by a teacher and even he had to admit, after everything that had ever happened to him at Hogwarts, he had never been physically harmed by a teacher, well, one that wasn't possessed by Voldemort anyway. Harry looked around the room and found that he was slightly stunned by the fact that everybody seemed to be too shocked to start yelling. Maybe that would happen later, after he was no longer present and the adults didn't have to watch what they were saying around young impressionable ears, or at least that's what he thought what Mrs Weasley was trying to do.

"Th-that is horrible, what would you even use something like that for?" asked Hermione aghast at what her best friend was being forced to do.

"They are _meant_ for signing official contracts, like at Gringotts, like a one-time thing, they are most definitely _not_ for repeated use," growled Bill.

Ron looked up at his best friend horrified, Bill had told him about blood quills just after he had started working at Gringotts, and he had said that using the quill the first time was bad enough, so Ron could hardly imagine what it had to feel like for Harry.

**Harry looked round at Umbridge. She was watching him, her wide, toadlike mouth stretched in a smile.**

**'Yes?'**

**'Nothing,' said Harry quietly.**

Moody nodded to himself but made no comment, even he knew when the appropriate time to bring up tactics was in a tense atmosphere like this.

**He looked back at the parchment, placed the quill on it once more, wrote I must not tell lies, and felt the searing pain on the back of his hand for a second time; once again, the words had been cut into his skin; once again, they healed over seconds later.**

"You cannot hire her Albus, she is a danger to the students," hissed Molly as Emmeline and Tonks nodded whole heartedly.

"I can assure you Molly that I will not hire Dolores Umbridge, and if I am forced to do so, she will have no authority what-so-ever and there will be a supervisor in every one of her classes," Dumbledore replied, the ever present twinkle in his eye extinguished, the usual warmth replaced with a cold loathing.

"If she so much as touches one hair on any of the children's heads, I _will_ hold you personally responsible," Molly added holding back tears as she leant against Arthur.

**And on it went. Again and again Harry wrote the words on the parchment in what he soon came to realise was not ink, but his own blood. And, again and again, the words were cut into the back of his hand, healed, and reappeared the next time he set quill to parchment.**

Luna's voice faltered as she read the sentence. She closed her eyes, Harry wasn't her friend at the moment, but she could tell by the way that his and Ron's future selves had greeted her in the forest that they were going to be. Luna took a few deep breaths and opened her eyes, their usual dreamy quality was now gone, replaced with a hard steel-like look that did not suit her at all. She glanced at both Harry's, took another breath and kept reading, eager to have the section finished.

**Darkness fell outside Umbridge's window. Harry did not ask when he would be allowed to stop. He did not even check his watch. He knew she was watching him for signs of weakness and he was not going to show any, not even if he had to sit there all night, cutting open his own hand with this quill . . .**

"You're so brave," whispered Emmeline, smiling through her tears at _Harry_ across the room as she pressed herself against Sirius even more. _Harry_ smiled back at her but didn't say anything; he felt pressure on his arm and looked down to see _Ron's_ hand resting on his arm. _Harry_ smiled and mouthed _'thanks'_ to his friend for the support. _Ron _nodded and gave _Harry's_ arm another squeeze before removing it and turning his attention back to Luna.

**'Come here,' she said, after what seemed hours.**

**He stood up. His hand was stinging painfully. When he looked down at it he saw that the cut had healed, but that the skin there was red raw.**

"I-If that is w-what it looks like after one n-night, what will it look like in a week?" asked Hermione shakily as Ron hugged her.

"I don't know but I'll be damned if it happens this time," Ron murmured into her ear, his warm breath hitting the side of her face in an oddly comforting way.

**'Hand,' she said.**

**He extended it. She took it in her own. Harry repressed a shudder as she touched him with her thick, stubby fingers on which she wore a number of ugly old rings.**

"Don't touch him," Sirius growled to himself.

**'Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet,' she said, smiling. 'Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go.'**

**Harry left her office without a word. The school was quite deserted; it was surely past midnight. He walked slowly up the corridor, then, when he had turned the corner and was sure she would not hear him, broke into a run.**

Sirius ran his fingers over the back of Harry's right hand; the skin was smooth and unblemished. _Why did this of all things have to happen to Harry as well_ he thought, tears coming to his eyes at the thought. Luna waited a moment for the people in the room to compose themselves and when the last of the tears had been wiped away, she continued.

**He had not had time to practise Vanishing Spells, had not written a single dream in his dream diary and had not finished the drawing of the Bowtruckle, nor had he written his essays. He skipped breakfast next morning to scribble down a couple of made-up dreams for Divination, their first lesson, and was surprised to find a dishevelled Ron keeping him company.**

"Where were you then?" asked Ginny, her voice a little hoarse from the tears in her eyes.

"How am I supposed to know, it's in the future?" replied Ron only half lying, he knew where he thought he was, but he wasn't one hundred per cent sure.

**'How come you didn't do it last night?' Harry asked, as Ron stared wildly around the common room for inspiration. Ron, who had been fast asleep when Harry got back to the dormitory, muttered something about 'doing other stuff, bent low over his parchment and scrawled a few words.**

**'That'll have to do,' he said, slamming the diary shut. 'I've said I dreamed I was buying a new pair of shoes, she can't make anything weird out of that, can she?'**

"I can't see how she could possible make anything weird out of that," agreed Arthur.

"Well, they could eat him," pointed out the Twins.

**They hurried off to North Tower together.**

**'How was detention with Umbridge, anyway? What did she make you do?'**

**Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second, then said, 'Lines.'**

"Harry Potter, don't you dare lie to me," growled Ron frowning at Harry.

"Sorry," Harry replied quietly.

**That's not too bad, then, eh?' said Ron.**

**'Nope,' said Harry.**

**'Hey - I forgot - did she let you off for Friday?'**

**'No,' said Harry.**

**Ron groaned sympathetically.**

**It was another bad day for Harry; he was one of the worst in Transfiguration, not having practised Vanishing Spells at all. He had to give up his lunch hour to complete the picture of the Bowtruckle and, meanwhile, Professors McGonagall, Grubbly-Plank and Sinistra gave them yet more homework, which he had no prospect of finishing that evening because of his second detention with Umbridge. **

"I see what you mean about the detentions," Harry told _Ron _gravely, he had obviously not only been referring before to the blood quill but the stress that the detentions had added as well.

**To cap it all, Angelina Johnson tracked him down at dinner again and, on learning that he would not be able to attend Friday's Keeper tryouts, told him she was not at all impressed by his attitude and that she expected players who wished to remain on the team to put training before their other commitments.**

"She doesn't kick me off the team does she?" pleaded Harry.

"Angelina wouldn't do that, you're our best player," George defended.

**'I'm in detention!' Harry yelled after her as she stalked away. 'D'you think I'd rather be stuck in a room with that old toad or playing Quidditch?'**

**'At least it's only lines,' said Hermione consolingly, as Harry sank back on to his bench and looked down at his steak and kidney pie, which he no longer fancied very much. 'It's not as it it's a dreadful punishment, really . . .'**

"Shows what I know," huffed Hermione as she moved out of Ron's arms and back to her seat.

**Harry opened his mouth, closed it again and nodded. He was not really sure why he was not telling Ron and Hermione exactly what was happening in Umbridge's room: he only knew that he did not want to see their looks of horror; that would make the whole thing seem worse and therefore more difficult to face. **

"You shouldn't have to feel that way," said Molly gently, "You shouldn't be in that situation at all," she added glaring at the book in Luna's hands.

**He also felt dimly that this was between himself and Umbridge, a private battle of wills, and he was not going to give her the satisfaction of hearing that he had complained about it.**

"A battle of wills is easier when you know your enemy, and until you do, you take all the help you can get," said Moody gruffly.

**'I can't believe how much homework we've got,' said Ron miserably.**

**'Well, why didn't you do any last night?' Hermione asked him. 'Where were you, anyway?'**

**'I was . . . I fancied a walk,' said Ron shiftily.**

**Harry had the distinct impression that he was not alone in concealing things at the moment.**

"What are you up to?" asked the Twins as Ron shifted in his seat.

"Leave him alone, you'll find out soon enough," said _Ron_ rolling his eyes.

**The second detention was just as bad as the previous one. The skin on the back of Harry's hand became irritated more quickly now and was soon red and inflamed. **

Harry could feel the vibrations coming from Sirius and Remus's chest as they growled either side of him. He would be significantly happier when the chapter was over and they didn't have to think about it, but somehow Harry didn't think that they would be distracted for long.

**Harry thought it unlikely that it would keep healing as effectively for long. Soon the cut would remain etched into his hand and Umbridge would, perhaps, be satisfied. He let no gasp of pain escape him, however, and from the moment of entering the room to the moment of his dismissal, again past midnight, he said nothing but 'good evening' and 'goodnight'.**

"Good keep your head and it'll be over that much sooner," nodded Moody, who for once found himself, being agreed with by Molly.

**His homework situation, however, was now desperate, and when he returned to the Gryffindor common room he did not, though exhausted, go to bed, but opened his books and began Snape's moonstone essay. It was half past two by the time he had finished it. He knew he had done a poor job, but there was no help for it; unless he had something to give in he would be in detention with Snape next. **

"If you do end up in a situation like this, not matter how much you dislike each other ask for an extension," said Remus.

"Like he would give me one," scoffed Harry.

"Oh, don't worry about Snape, we'll make sure he does it," replied Remus, staring directly at Dumbledore who nodded.

**He then dashed off answers to the questions Professor McGonagall had set them, cobbled together something on the proper handling of Bowtruckles for Professor Grubbly-Plank, and staggered up to bed, where he fell fully clothed on top of the covers and fell asleep immediately.**

"You aren't going to be able to keep going like that, I had a time turner and I could barely keep up with the amount of sleep and work I was trying to balance," Hermione said looking at Harry sympathetically.

"I don't have another choice though," shrugged Harry.

**Thursday passed in a haze of tiredness. Ron seemed very sleepy too, though Harry could not see why he should be. Harry's third detention passed in the same way as the previous two, except that after two hours the words 'I must not tell lies' did not fade from the back of Harry's hand, but remained scratched there, oozing droplets of blood. **

Harry winced as he looked at his right hand, picturing what it would look like in his head. Sirius, who had felt Harry wince reached for his right hand and kissed the back of it, the sudden affectionate gesture almost immediately making Harry feel better.

**The pause in the pointed quills scratching made Professor Umbridge look up.**

**'Ah,' she said softly, moving around her desk to examine his hand herself. 'Good. That ought to serve as a reminder to you, oughtn't it? You may leave for tonight.'**

**'Do I still have to come back tomorrow?' said Harry, picking up his schoolbag with his left hand rather than his smarting right one.**

**'Oh yes,' said Professor Umbridge, smiling as widely as before. 'Yes, I think we can etch the message a little deeper with another evenings work.'**

**Harry had never before considered the possibility that there might be another teacher in the world he hated more than Snape, but as he walked back towards Gryffindor Tower he had to admit he had found a strong contender. **

"Snape's mean, but he wouldn't ever do something like that to a student. Even if he is a bastard, Umbridge is worse" growled Sirius.

"That sounded suspiciously like a complement Sirius," teased Remus, trying to lighten Sirius's mood.

"If you tell him, I'll deny it," replied Sirius, the barest hint of a smirk gracing his lips.

**She's evil, he thought, as he climbed a staircase to the seventh floor, she's an evil, twisted, mad old-**

**'Ron?'**

"What are you doing there?" asked Ginny looking at her older brother suspiciously,_ 'he'd been out before as well'_ she thought to herself as Ron's ears turned red and he shrugged.

**He had reached the top of the stairs, turned right and almost walked into Ron, who was lurking behind a statue of Lachlan the Lanky, clutching his broomstick. **

"Get your minds out of the gutter," hissed Hermione to the snickering Twins as Ron turned red in embarrassment.

**He gave a great leap of surprise when he saw Harry and attempted to hide his new Cleansweep Eleven behind his back.**

**'What are you doing?'**

**'Er - nothing. What are you doing?'**

**Harry frowned at him.**

**'Come on, you can tell me! What are you hiding here for?'**

**'I'm - I'm hiding from Fred and George, if you must know,' said Ron. They just went past with a bunch of first-years, I bet they're testing stuff on them again, I mean, they can't do it in the common room now, can they, not with Hermione there.'**

"And you didn't stop them?" growled Hermione glaring at a sheepishly looking Ron.

**He was talking in a very fast, feverish way.**

**'But what have you got your broom for, you haven't been flying, have you?' Harry asked.**

**'I - well - well, OK, I'll tell you, but don't laugh, all right?' Ron said defensively, turning redder with every second. 'I - I thought I'd try out for Gryffindor Keeper now I've got a decent broom. There. Go on. Laugh.'**

"Why would I laugh?" asked Harry sliding down so he was seated next to Ron again, whose ear had turned red.

**'I'm not laughing,' said Harry. Ron blinked. 'It's a brilliant idea! It'd be really cool if you got on the team! I've never seen you play Keeper, are you good?'**

"He's not horrible, if that's what you're asking," said Bill looking over at his little brother.

"Yeah a bit of training and he might actually be a decent player," grinned George.

"Thanks, really," said Ron sarcastically as George laughed.

"Seriously though," Fred added turning to _Ron_ "did you get on the team, you did didn't you?" he asked as _Ron _grinned,

"You'll just have to wait and see."

**'I'm not bad,' said Ron, who looked immensely relieved at Harry's reaction. 'Charlie, Fred and George always made me keep for them when they were training during the holidays.'**

**'So you've been practising tonight?'**

**'Every evening since Tuesday . . . just on my own, though. I've been trying to bewitch Quaffles to fly at me, but it hasn't been easy and I don't know how much use it'll be.' Ron looked nervous and anxious. 'Fred and George are going to laugh themselves stupid when I turn up for the tryouts. They haven't stopped taking the mickey out of me since I got made a prefect.'**

Arthur frowned at his son's, they had done that to Percy and look where that had led to, and Arthur didn't want to lose Ron as well because he was sick of the Twins teasing.

**'I wish I was going to be there,' said Harry bitterly, as they set off together towards the common room.**

**'Yeah, so do - Harry, what's that on the back of your hand?'**

**Harry, who had just scratched his nose with his free right hand, tried to hide it, but had as much success as Ron with his Cleansweep.**

**'It's just a cut - it's nothing - it's - '**

"Like that'll work," glared Ron.

**But Ron had grabbed Harry's forearm and pulled the back of Harry's hand up level with his eyes. There was a pause, during which he stared at the words carved into the skin, then, looking sick, he released Harry**

**'I thought you said she was just giving you lines?'**

"Technically…" Harry trailed off weakly as Ron's glare intensified.

**Harry hesitated, but after all, Ron had been honest with him, so he told Ron the truth about the hours he had been spending in Umbridge's office.**

Hermione frowned and wondered what else Ron knew about Harry that she didn't. She supposed that they would have something's between them that they wouldn't tell her, like girls and Quidditch, and whatever else teenage boys thought about that she didn't want to know. Bit still, it felt strange to be out of the loop on something.

**The old hag!' Ron said in a revolted whisper as they came to a halt in front of the Fat Lady, who was dozing peacefully with her head against her frame. 'She's sick! Go to McGonagall, say something!'**

"No," Harry said straight away, this was between him and Umbridge.

**'No,' said Harry at once. 'I'm not giving her the satisfaction of knowing she's got to me.'**

**'Got to you? You can't let her get away with this!'**

**'I don't know how much power McGonagall's got over her,' said Harry.**

"Probably none what-so-ever," shrugged Tonks sadly, she would love to see McGonagall whip her in the arse.

**'Dumbledore, then, tell Dumbledore!'**

**'No,' said Harry flatly.**

"Why not?" asked Molly angerly.

"Why should I he hasn't spoken to me in months, he won't even look me in the eye," yelled Harry, before remembering his older self had told him not to take is personally. _Easier said than done_ he thought.

"Don't yell at Molly," Sirius whispered in Harry's ear as he pulled Harry back up to the space between Remus and himself.

"He's a higher authority that Umbridge, you shouldn't have to deal with this at all!" retorted Molly.

"I'm sorry Mrs Weasley," interrupted _Harry_ before his younger self could reply, "But I had a lot of issues this year with Dumbledore, some of which I can't say I've ever really forgiven him for," he told her, ignoring the sad look Dumbledore gave him and the surprised look from Molly.

**'Why not?'**

**'He's got enough on his mind,' said Harry, but that was not the true reason. He was not going to go to Dumbledore for help when Dumbledore had not spoken to him once since June.**

Dumbledore sighed, he knew that Harry would never have liked being cut off like that, but it had to be done. He could only hope that this was one of the things that Harry had indeed forgiven him for.

**'Well, I reckon you should - ' Ron began, but he was interrupted by the Fat Lady, who had been watching them sleepily and now burst out, 'Are you going to give me the password or will I have to stay awake all night waiting for you to finish your conversation?'**

**Friday dawned sullen and sodden as the rest of the week. Though Harry automatically glanced towards the staff table when he entered the Great Hall, it was without any real hope of seeing Hagrid, and he turned his mind immediately to his more pressing problems, such as the mountainous pile of homework he had to do and the prospect of yet another detention with Umbridge.**

**Two things sustained Harry that day. One was the thought that it was almost the weekend; the other was that, dreadful though his final detention with Umbridge was sure to be, he had a distant view of the Quidditch pitch from her window and might, with luck, be able to see something of Ron's tryout. These were rather feeble rays of light, it was true, but Harry was grateful for anything that might lighten his present darkness; he had never had a worse first week of term at Hogwarts.**

**At five o'clock that evening he knocked on Professor Umbridge's office door for what he sincerely hoped would be the final time, and was told to enter. The blank parchment lay ready for him on the lace-covered table, the pointed black quill beside it.**

The room tensed as Luna finished the sentence. The group on the largest arm chair seemed to have all moved closer together. Emmeline was practically on top of Sirius, her knees resting on his lap. Sirius has pulled Harry closer to him, who in turn had his hand being squeezed by Remus. Tonks had both arms wrapped around Remus's left arm and her head was resting on his shoulder. Ron had moved directly under Harry and Hermione and Ginny were holding both of his hands. The others, bar Dumbledore, Kingsley and Moody were also reaching out to each other for comfort in the face of the last detention.

**'You know what to do, Mr Potter,' said Umbridge, smiling sweetly at him.**

**Harry picked up the quill and glanced through the window. If he just shifted his chair an inch or so to the right . . . on the pretext of shifting himself closer to the table, he managed it. He now had a distant view of the Gryffindor Quidditch team soaring up and down the pitch, while half a dozen black figures stood at the foot of the three high goalposts, apparently awaiting their turn to Keep. It was impossible to tell which one was Ron at this distance.**

"I couldn't tell you," said _Ron_ quietly shrugging.

**I must not tell lies, Harry wrote. The cut in the back of his right hand opened and began to bleed afresh.**

**I must not tell lies. The cut dug deeper, stinging and smarting.**

**I must not tell lies. Blood trickled down his wrist.**

Luna had turned green now and had to stop for a minute. Fred placed a hand on her shoulder and offered to read, but she shook her head determinedly. She took another deep breath as her skin turned back to its normal pale white as she began again.

**He chanced another glance out of the window. Whoever was defending the goalposts now was doing a very poor job indeed. Katie Bell scored twice in the few seconds Harry dared to watch. Hoping very much that the Keeper wasn't Ron, he dropped his eyes back to the parchment shining with blood.**

Sirius couldn't take it; he wrenched himself out from the group and started pacing behind the lounge, grumbling to himself every few minutes as Luna kept her slow, steady pace reading. Emmeline and Remus quickly took up Sirius's place of hugging Harry, either for Harry's or their own comfort no one knew.

**I must not tell lies.**

**I must not tell lies.**

**He looked up whenever he thought he could risk it; when he could hear the scratching of Umbridge's quill or the opening of a desk drawer. The third person to try out was pretty good, the fourth was terrible, the fifth dodged a Bludger exceptionally well but then fumbled an easy save. The sky was darkening, and Harry doubted he would be able to see the sixth and seventh people at all.**

**I must not tell lies.**

Sirius growled and reclaimed his seat inbetween Harry and Emmeline, the pacing having done nothing to improve his mood.

"You alright?" asked Harry timidly at the dark look on Sirius's face. He looked like he did on the night Harry had met him, when he was shouting at Peter Pettigrew. Sirius nodded but didn't say anything, fearing his voice would either come out in a loud growl or a shaking leaf.

**I must not tell lies.**

**The parchment was now dotted with drops of blood from the back of his hand, which was searing with pain. When he next looked up, night had fallen and the Quidditch pitch was no longer visible.**

Sirius looked shakily up at his older godson, "_Harry_ come here," he said with such an amount of distress in his voice that _Harry_ couldn't resist going to him. He slowly walked over and knelt down in the space that Ron and Hermione had vacated for him, directly in front of Sirius, Harry and Remus. Sirius gently picked up _Harry's_ right hand and looked at the words _I must not tell lies_ carved into the flesh,

"H-how m-many times?" Sirius asked his voice shaking as he lightly ran his thumbs over the scars.

"I honestly don't remember," _Harry _said simply looking into his godfather's eyes, noting that they were a darker colour than usual.

"Obviously enough that it remained there," snarled Remus. _Harry_ gently pulled his hand out of Sirius's grasp and placed it on Remus's, squeezing gently as he watched Moony disappear back beneath the surface.

"There'll be more in the book so try to keep clam," Harry told them, then looking back at Remus, "she gets what's coming to her," he added smiling with great satisfaction. Remus nodded and _Harry_ turned to his younger self, silently telling him to be careful around Dolores Umbridge and then returning to his seat as Harry nodded.

**'Let's see if you've got the message yet, shall we?' said Umbridge's soft voice half an hour later.**

**She moved towards him, stretching out her short ringed fingers for his arm. And then, as she took hold of him to examine the words now cut into his skin, pain seared, not across the back of his hand, but across the scar on his forehead. At the same time, he had a most peculiar sensation somewhere around his midriff.**

"That didn't have anything to do with Voldemort, did it?" Harry asked his face pale at the thought.

"No, I haven't really ever worked out what it was, but it wasn't Voldemort," _Harry_ told his younger self reassuringly.

**He wrenched his arm out of her grip and leapt to his feet, staring at her. She looked back at him, a smile stretching her wide, slack mouth.**

**'Yes, it hurts, doesn't it?' she said softly.**

"Sadistic bitch," growled Sirius.

**He did not answer. His heart was thumping very hard and fast. Was she talking about his hand or did she know what he had just felt in his forehead?**

**'Well, I think I've made my point, Mr Potter. You may go.'**

**He caught up his schoolbag and left the room as quickly as he could.**

**Stay calm, he told himself, as he sprinted up the stairs. Stay calm, it doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means . . .**

"Exactly, calm down and tell somebody," murmured Molly.

**'Mimbulus mimbletonia!' he gasped at the Fat Lady, who swung forwards once more.**

**A roar of sound greeted him. Ron came running towards him, beaming all over his face and slopping Butterbeer down his front from the goblet he was clutching.**

**'Harry, I did it, I'm in, I'm Keeper!'**

Ron openly gaped at the book, "That's what you meant when you said the new person was perfect?" he asked stunned.

"Yeah, you're brilliant," laughed _Harry_, relieved that the tension in the room had been broken. There was a round of congratulations and it was at least five minutes before Luna could keep reading.

**'What? Oh - brilliant!' said Harry, trying to smile naturally, while his heart continued to race and his hand throbbed and bled.**

**'Have a Butterbeer.' Ron pressed a bottle on him. 'I can't believe it - '- where's Hermione gone?'**

**'She's there,' said Fred, who was also swigging Butterbeer, and pointed to an armchair by the fire. Hermione was dozing in it, her drink tipping precariously in her hand.**

**'Well, she said she was pleased when I told her,' said Ron, looking slightly put out.**

"I am," Hermione said quickly, "I'm probably just really tired," she added blushing slightly as Ron beamed at her.

**'Let her sleep,' said George hastily. It was a few moments before Harry noticed that several of the first-years gathered around them bore unmistakeable signs of recent nosebleeds.**

**Come here, Ron, and see if Oliver's old robes fit you,' called Kade Bell, 'we can take off his name and put yours on instead . . .'**

"Or you can get new ones," suggested Fred when Ron frowned.

"I do believe that the Quidditch teams do have an allowance for team robes, should the occasion call for it Mr Weasley," smiled Dumbledore, surprising Ron as he winked at him.

**As Ron moved away, Angelina came striding up to Harry.**

**Sorry I was a bit short with you earlier, Potter,' she said abruptly. 'It's stressful this managing lark, you know, I'm starting to think I was a bit hard on Wood sometimes.' She was watching Ron over the rim of her goblet with a slight frown on her face.**

Ron frowned again _what now?_ he thought.

**'Look, I know he's your best mate, but he's not fabulous,' she said bluntly. 'I think with a bit of training he'll be all right, though. He comes from a family of good Quidditch players. I'm banking on him turning out to have a bit more talent than he showed today, to be honest. Vicky Frobisher and Geoffrey Hooper both flew better this evening, but Hooper's a real whiner, he's always moaning about something or other, and Vicky's involved in all sorts of societies. She admitted herself that if training clashed with her Charms Club she'd put Charms first. **

"So I was what, third best?" asked Ron half disappointed half incredulously.

"Oh, quit whining, you're on the team aren't you?" replied Ginny before Ron could get to gloomy. This seemed to work because a few seconds later Ron was all smiles again.

**Anyway, we're having a practice session at two o'clock tomorrow, so just make sure you're there this time. And do me a favour and help Ron as much as you can, OK?'**

**He nodded, and Angelina strolled back to Alicia Spinnet. Harry moved over to sit next to Hermione, who awoke with a jerk as he put down his bag.**

**'Oh, Harry, it's you . . . good about Ron, isn't it?' she said blearily. 'I'm just so - so - so tired,' she yawned. 'I was up until one o'clock making more hats. They're disappearing like mad!'**

_Ron_ and _Harry_ snickered as they remembered what was really happening to them. Even if it was Hermione and she was putting so much energy into them. It was Dobby and a very reluctant Winky, which just made it funnier.

**And sure enough, now that he looked, Harry saw that there were woolly hats concealed all around the room where unwary elves might accidentally pick them up.**

**'Great,' said Harry distractedly; if he did not tell somebody soon, he would burst. 'Listen, Hermione, I was just up in Umbridge's office and she touched my arm . . .'**

**Hermione listened closely. When Harry had finished, she said slowly, 'You're worried You-Know-Who's controlling her like he controlled Quirrell?'**

"But he didn't have a body then," answered Hermione.

**'Well,' said Harry, dropping his voice, 'it's a possibility, isn't it?'**

**'I suppose so,' said Hermione, though she sounded unconvinced. 'But I don't think he can be possessing her the way he possessed Quirrell, I mean, he's properly alive again now, isn't he, he's got his own body, he wouldn't need to share someone else's. He could have her under the Imperius Curse, I suppose . . .'**

"I doubt it, she's already doing what he wants," growled Moody.

**Harry watched Fred, George and Lee Jordan juggling empty Butterbeer bottles for a moment. Then Hermione said, 'But last year your scar hurt when nobody was touching you, and didn't Dumbledore say it had to do with what You-Know-Who was feeling at the time? I mean, maybe this hasn't got anything to do with**

**Umbridge at all, maybe it's just coincidence it happened while you were with her?'**

**'She's evil,' said Harry flatly. Twisted.'**

**'She's horrible, yes, but . . . Harry, I think you ought to tell Dumbledore your scar hurt.'**

"Even if you don't tell Dumbledore, at least tell me," said Sirius, well, seriously.

"So you can tell him for me?" asked Harry raising and eyebrow.

"Maybe, but I might just happen to give good advice," he replied pouting.

**It was the second time in two days he had been advised to go to Dumbledore and his answer to Hermione was just the same as his answer to Ron.**

**'I'm not bothering him with this. Like you just said, it's not a big deal. It's been hurting on and off all summer - it was just a bit worse tonight, that's all - '**

**'Harry, I'm sure Dumbledore would want to be bothered by this - '**

**'Yeah,' said Harry, before he could stop himself, 'that's the only bit of me Dumbledore cares about, isn't it, my scar?'**

**'Don't say that, it's not true!'**

**'I think I'll write and tell Sirius about it, see what he thinks - '**

"But you can't, they could be searching the mail!" cried Hermione.

**'Harry, you can't put something like that in a letter!' said Hermione, looking alarmed. 'Don't you remember, Moody told us to be careful what we put in writing! We just can't guarantee owls aren't being intercepted anymore!'**

**'All right, all right, I won't tell him, then!' said Harry irritably. He got to his feet. 'I'm going to bed. Tell Ron for me, will you?'**

"Oh sure skip out on my party why don't you," teased Ron mock-pouting.

"Okay then," Harry grinned, laughing as Ron glared at him playfully.

**'Oh no,' said Hermione, looking relieved, 'if you're going that means I can go too, without being rude. I'm absolutely exhausted and I want to make some more hats tomorrow. Listen, you can help me if you like, it's quite fun, I'm getting better, I can do patterns and bobbles and all sorts of things now.'**

"I think you time could be better used sleeping Hermione dear," said Molly, "but if you wanted I could give you some lessons, I'm always trying to get Ginny interested but she won't go for it," she added smiling as Hermione nodded eagerly and Ginny rolled her eyes fondly at her mother's enthusiasm.

**Harry looked into her face, which was shining with glee, and tried to look as though he was vaguely tempted by this offer.**

**'Er . . . no, I don't think I will, thanks,' he said. 'Er - not tomorrow. I've got loads of homework to do . . .'**

**And he traipsed off to the boys' stairs, leaving her looking slightly disappointed.**

"Thanks for the support Harry," said Hermione mock-angrily.

"Shut up," Harry laughed as Luna passed the book to Fred.

"Well, now that that's over," Fred sighed as he turned the page to the next chapter, "**Percy and Padfoot**," he read scowling at the mention of his brother.


	20. Percy and Padfoot

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling. I'm pretty sure in an earlier chapter that I said it was Alicia that ate the blood blisterpod, but it's actually Katie so I'll go back and change that later...**

* * *

"**Percy and Padfoot**" read Fred as Tonks yawned, all of the excitement from the previous chapter draining out of her.

**Harry was first to wake up in his dormitory next morning. He lay for a moment watching dust swirl in the ray of sunlight coming through the gap in his four-poster's hangings, and savoured the thought that it was Saturday. The first week of term seemed to have dragged on for ever, like one gigantic History of Magic lesson.**

"That's why we always started the year off with a bang," commented Sirius, stretching his arms above his head.

"Yes, I must say the fireworks in the great hall were always delightful," Dumbledore chuckled.

"You set fireworks off in the Great Hall?" asked Hermione incredulously.

"Yep, as soon as the first years were sorted we'd let them off," grinned Sirius.

"Well, except third year," added Remus.

"Why what happened in third year?" asked Ron as Harry and the Twins nodded, wondering the same thing.

"They went off early…and may or may not have almost taken out a couple of the first years waiting to be sorted," Remus grimaced while Sirius winced.

"Minnie gave us detention or a month," Sirius added while Molly's gazed slid down to where Fred and George were whispering to each other.

"You will do no such thing," she interrupted after hearing the words _Filch, Peeves _and _fireworks_ more than three times in their whispered conversation.

"But you don't even know what we were talking about!" cried George as he turned to face his mother.

"Maybe not but you got the idea from Sirius Black-"

"Hey don't bring me into this!" interrupted Sirius.

"Bring you into it? You're the one who started it!" replied Molly incredulously. But before their argument could descend any further from half-hearted remarks and mock anger (or the spectators could get a crick in their necks from moving their heads back and forth like a tennis match) Molly and Sirius were cut off by Dumbledore.

"Mr Weasley perhaps you would like to keep reading, or I fear that we will be here for much longer than is intended," he said as Fred dragged his eyes back to the book in front of him.

**Judging by the sleepy silence and the freshly minted look of that beam of sunlight, it was just after daybreak. He pulled open the curtains around his bed, got up and started to dress. The only sound apart from the distant twittering of birds was the slow, deep breathing of his fellow Gryffindors. He opened his schoolbag carefully, pulled out parchment and quill and headed out of the dormitory for the common room.**

"Well, that's kind of boring," muttered Tonks, grinning as she saw Remus's lips twitch at her comment.

**Making straight for his favourite squashy old armchair beside the now extinct fire, Harry settled himself down comfortably and unrolled his parchment while looking around the room. The detritus of crumpled-up bits of parchment, old Gobstones, empty ingredient jars and sweet wrappers that usually covered the common room at the end of each day was gone, as were all Hermione's elf hats. Wondering vaguely how many elves had now been set free whether they wanted to be or not, **

_Harry_ and _Ron_ couldn't resist sniggering at that, after all it was only two house elves and they were already free.

"You know then?" asked Hermione when she noticed the two young men laughing.

"Of course we know, it's already happened for us," replied _Harry_ cheerfully.

"But you're not going to tell us?" interjected Ginny her eyebrow raised.

"Not even a little bit," grinned _Harry_ as he winked at her, in turn causing her to turn Weasley red. Harry, who had seen is older self teasing Ginny frowned, _why would he do that?_ She was Ron's sister, but then _Ron_ didn't look the least put out, in fact it looked as though he was now teasing _Harry_ about something. Harry thought back to what Sirius had said before about Potter's marrying redheads, but that couldn't be true could it? His father had to have liked something about his mother other than her hair, right? Harry shook his head, before realising that Fred was reading again and he had missed a paragraph.

**Harry uncorked his ink bottle, dipped his quill into it, then held it suspended an inch above the smooth yellowish surface of his parchment, thinking hard . . . but after a minute or so he found himself staring into the empty grate, at a complete loss for what to say. He could now appreciate how hard it had been for Ron and Hermione to write him letters over the summer. **

"It's horrible trying to think of something," nodded Hermione ignoring the sheepish look on Harry's face.

**How was he supposed to tell Sirius everything that had happened over the past week and pose all the questions he was burning to ask without giving potential letter-thieves a lot of information he did not want them to have?**

"That does sound kind of difficult," said Harry pensively.

**He sat quite motionless for a while, gazing into the fireplace, then, finally coming to a decision, he dipped his quill into the ink bottle once more and set it resolutely on the parchment.**

_**Dear Snuffles,**_

_**Hope you're OK, the first week back here's been terrible, I'm really glad it's the weekend.**_

_**We've got a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge. She's nearly as nice as your mum. **_

Sirius snorted, "Yeah, I'm sure they would have gotten along famously," he said, his nose wrinkling in distaste.

_**I'm writing because that thing I wrote to you about last summer happened again last night when I was doing a detention with Umbridge.**_

_**We're all missing our biggest friend, we hope he'll be back soon.**_

_**Please write back quickly.**_

_**Best,**_

_**Harry**_

"Not bad Potter, not bad at all," nodded Moody.

"Yeah it was pretty good for a first attempt wasn't it," grinned _Harry_.

**Harry reread the letter several times, trying to see it from the point of view of an outsider. He could not see how they would know what he was talking about - or who he was talking to - just from reading this letter. He did hope Sirius would pick up the hint about Hagrid and tell them when he might be back. Harry did not want to ask directly in case it drew too much attention to what Hagrid might be up to while he was not at Hogwarts.**

"I don't think I'll have much of a problem figuring it out Harry, contrary to popular belief I happen to be quite smart," said Sirius.

"Only when you want to be Padfoot," added Remus, slyly urging Fred to continue reading before Sirius could comment.

**Considering it was a very short letter, it had taken a long time to write; sunlight had crept halfway across the room while he had been working on it and he could now hear distant sounds of movement from the dormitories above. Sealing the parchment carefully, he climbed through the portrait hole and headed off for the Owlery.**

**'I would not go that way if I were you,' said Nearly Headless Nick, drifting disconcertingly through a wall just ahead of Harry as he walked down the passage. 'Peeves is planning an amusing joke on the next person to pass the bust of Paracelsus halfway down the corridor.'**

"Peeves needs some new tricks," grinned George.

"I think he sees it as a classic, he's been doing it since your mother and I were there," laughed Arthur.

"Really?" asked Fred looking up from the book.

"Yes, except he did it nearly once a week, for six months, he was a menace!" said Molly crossly.

"Now Molly, he's not that bad," said Sirius smirking.

"It wasn't your head he dropped it on!" she snapped glaring at the younger man, whose only response was to grin sheepishly back.

**'Does it involve Paracelsus falling on top of the persons head?' asked Harry.**

**'Funnily enough, it does,' said Nearly Headless Nick in a bored voice. 'Subtlety has never been Peeves's strong point. I'm off to try and find the Bloody Baron . . . he might be able to put a stop to it . . . see you, Harry . . .'**

"It was nice of him to tell you," said Emmeline smiling. She had always liked Nick when she had been at school but as she was in Ravenclaw, she never really had the chance to interact with him.

**'Yeah, bye,' said Harry and instead of turning right, he turned left, taking a longer but safer route up to the Owlery. His spirits rose as he walked past window after window showing brilliantly blue sky; he had training later, he would be back on the Quidditch pitch at last.**

**Something brushed his ankles. He looked down and saw the caretaker's skeletal grey cat, Mrs Norris, slinking past him. She turned lamplike yellow eyes on him for a moment before disappearing behind a statue of Wilfred the Wistful.**

"I swear that cat knows about as many short cuts as we do Moony," exclaimed Sirius poking Remus in the shoulder behind Tonks's head.

**'I'm not doing anything wrong,' Harry called after her. She had the unmistakeable air of a cat that was off to report to her boss, yet Harry could not see why; he was perfectly entitled to walk up to the Owlery on a Saturday morning.**

"I don't know Harry, that sounds pretty suspicious to me," teased Ginny. Harry looked up at the girl next to him slightly surprised by her teasing tone and mischievous glint that sparkled in her eye. Ginny blushed when Harry didn't reply and instead kind of stared at her, maybe she should look away, or should she repeat what she said, or maybe just pretend she didn't say anything?

"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Harry, who had realised that he was staring.

"I don't know Ginny, how many boys do you know that are out of bed that early on a Saturday?" asked Hermione, saving both Ginny and Harry from the awkwardness.

Ginny sighed in relief and brought her finger to her lips in mock concentration, "You know what, I have six brothers and I still can't think of a single one," she said tapping her chin as she spoke causing most of the females in the room to laugh and Harry to pout.

"Were we always that awkward when we were younger?" _Harry_ asked _Ron_ as Fred started to read again.

"Do you really think I would have been paying attention to that?" replied _Ron_ his eyebrow raised.

"Good point, I'll ask Hermione later," laughed _Harry_.

**The sun was high in the sky now and when Harry entered the Owlery the glassless windows dazzled his eyes; thick silvery beams of sunlight crisscrossed the circular room in which hundreds of owls nestled on rafters, a little restless in the early-morning light, some clearly just returned from hunting. The straw-covered floor crunched a little as he stepped across tiny animal bones, craning his neck for a sight of Hedwig.**

**There you are,' he said, spotting her somewhere near the very top of the vaulted ceiling. 'Get down here, I've got a letter for you.'**

"There's no need to be impolite Harry," Molly chided as the Twins rolled their eyes and Ron snickered.

**With a low hoot she stretched her great white wings and soared down on to his shoulder.**

**'Right, I know this says Snuffles on the outside,' he told her, giving her the letter to clasp in her beak and, without knowing exactly why, whispering, 'but it's for Sirius, OK?'**

"Because you never know who is listening," stated Moody while Tonks quickly motioned for Fred to keep reading as soon as Moody even looked like shouting his catch phrase.

**She blinked her amber eyes once and he took that to mean that she understood.**

**'Safe flight, then,' said Harry and he carried her to one of the windows; with a moments pressure on his arm, Hedwig took off into the blindingly bright sky. He watched her until she became a tiny black speck and vanished, then switched his gaze to Hagrid's hut, clearly visible from this window, and just as clearly uninhabited, the chimney smokeless, the curtains drawn.**

"It's a little strange to see," commented _Harry_. Seeing Hagrid's hut looking so dark and devoid of life _Harry_ found was even stranger and sadder to see than at the end of his sixth year when Bellatrix and the other Death Eaters had set it on fire.

**The treetops of the Forbidden Forest swayed in a light breeze. Harry watched them, savouring the fresh air on his face, thinking about Quidditch later . . . then he saw it. A great, reptilian winged horse, just like the ones pulling the Hogwarts carriages, with leathery black wings spread wide like a pterodactyl's, rose up out of the trees like a grotesque, giant bird. It soared in a great circle, then plunged back into the trees. The whole thing had happened so quickly, Harry could hardly believe what he had seen, except that his heart was hammering madly.**

Harry glanced over at Luna wondering if she was going to say anything odd about his body, but she didn't even seem to be listening. Instead she was sitting sideways on her cushion tracing the lines on the bottom of her shoes like a map, and considering what he had learnt in the short time he had known her, it was kind of likely that it was.

**The Owlery door opened behind him. He leapt in shock and, turning quickly, saw Cho Chang holding a letter and a parcel in his hands.**

"Oh, Merlin," grumbled both Harry's. One because Sirius was going to tease him again and the other because of the conversation he knew was coming.

**'Hi,' said Harry automatically.**

**'Oh . . . hi,' she said breathlessly. 'I didn't think anyone would be up here this early . . . I only remembered five minutes ago, it's my mum's birthday'**

"See Harry, even Cho thinks it's suspicious," whispered Ginny making Harry smile for a minute, at least until Fred got to the conversation anyway.

**She held up the parcel.**

**Right,' said Harry. His brain seemed to have jammed. He wanted to say something funny and interesting, but the memory of that terrible winged horse was fresh in his mind.**

"I suppose that would put you off," muttered Bill.

**Nice day,' he said, gesturing to the windows. His insides seemed to shrivel with embarrassment. The weather. He was talking about the weather . . .**

"Don't worry I've heard worse," said Remus as he patted Harry on the head with mock sympathy.

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione curiously looking up at Remus.

"Well there was the time when James brought Lily a bouquet of flowers," replied Remus scratching the back of his head thoughtfully.

"Why was that awkward?" asked Molly.

"Well it attracted some bees and when one stung Lily, James told her that she should be grateful that she was only stung, unlike the bee which as he pointed out died when it stung her," Remus answered as both Sirius and Emmeline burst out laughing at the memory.

"What did she do?" asked Harry almost feeling sorry for his father.

"Well it was sixth year I think, so she hit him over the head with the flowers and stormed off," laughed Sirius.

"She kept the flowers though," added Emmeline much to the surprise of the two Marauders.

"Really?" asked Harry and _Harry_ at the same time.

"Yeah she dried them out and added them to the potpourri she kept in her draw," nodded Emmeline.

"That's very sweet of her," smiled Molly.

"Lily was always sweet," replied Emmeline softly as Sirius squeezed her hand. Fred once again took the lull in the conversation as the moment to keep reading.

**'Yeah,' said Cho, looking around for a suitable owl. 'Good Quidditch conditions. I haven't been out all week, have you?'**

"See, it wasn't that bad of a topic anyway," said _Harry_ who felt the need to defend a conversation that he didn't even really remember.

"Mate, you're still talking about the weather," replied Ron, smirking across the room.

**'No,' said Harry.**

**Cho had selected one of the school barn owls. She coaxed it down on to her arm where it held out an obliging leg so that she could attach the parcel.**

**'Hey has Gryffindor got a new Keeper yet?' she asked.**

**'Yeah,' said Harry. 'It's my friend Ron Weasley, d'you know him?'**

**'The Tornados-hater?' said Cho rather coolly. 'Is he any good?'**

"He's brilliant," said _Harry_ sending a smile to the younger version of his friend.

**'Yeah,' said Harry, 'I think so. I didn't see his tryout, though, I was in detention.'**

**Cho looked up, the parcel only half-attached to the owls legs.**

**That Umbridge woman's foul,' she said in a low voice. 'Putting you in detention just because you told the truth about how - how - how he died. Everyone heard about it, it was all over the school. You were really brave standing up to her like that.'**

Hermione watched as Ginny mimed Cho's words, she could just imagine the sickly sweet voice she was using as she batted her eye lids. Hermione giggled at her friend, Ginny was so obvious with her feelings sometimes, she was surprised no one else noticed, well almost no one she amended when she heard Luna giggling as well from across the coffee table.

**Harry's insides re-inflated so rapidly he felt as though he might actually float a few inches off the dropping-strewn floor. **

"You'll want to be careful with that Harry, you might fly away," chimed Luna smiling at both versions of Harry.

"Yeah, you could fly away like your aunt," laughed _Ron_

**Who cared about a stupid flying horse; Cho thought he had been really brave. For a moment, he considered accidentally-on-purpose showing her his cut hand as he helped her tie her parcel on to her owl . . . but the very instant this thrilling thought occurred, the Owlery door opened again.**

"Bad luck Pup," laughed Sirius as Harry turned red again.

**Filch the caretaker came wheezing into the room. There were purple patches on his sunken, veined cheeks, his jowls were aquiver and his thin grey hair dishevelled; he had obviously run here. Mrs Norris came trotting at his heels, gazing up at the owls overhead and mewing hungrily. There was a restless shifting of wings from above and a large brown owl snapped his beak in a menacing fashion.**

**'Aha!' said Filch, taking a flat-footed step towards Harry, his pouchy cheeks trembling with anger. I've had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive order for Dungbombs!'**

"What?" cried most of the room.

**Harry folded his arms and stared at the caretaker.**

**'Who told you I was ordering Dungbombs?'**

"Umbridge probably, it'd give her an excuse to read your letter," growled Moody**.**

"But she can't do that," cried Hermione.

"Unfortunately there isn't really anything stopping her," said Kingsley looking grim.

"What, are you telling me that there isn't a law against reading other people's private mail?" asked Hermione indignantly.

"Hermione you know we don't have the same laws as the Muggles," said _Harry_ rubbing the bridge of his nose however when Hermione looked like she was going to argue and Mr Weasley looked like he was about to start asking questions about Muggle law_ Ron_ interrupted,

"Just leave it Hermione, you can add it to the list of this to change once you're out of Hogwarts," he said watching the younger version of his girlfriend glare at him. "And Dad you can ask Hermione all about Muggle law at dinner," he added looking over at his father who nodded as Fred started to read again.

**Cho was looking from Harry to Filch, also frowning; the barn owl on her arm, tired of standing on one leg, gave an admonitory hoot but she ignored it.**

**'I have my sources.' said Filch in a self-satisfied hiss. 'Now hand over whatever it is you're sending.'**

"Thank Merlin you've already sent it," sighed Molly looking relieved.

**Feeling immensely thankful that he had not dawdled in posting off the letter, Harry said, 'I can't, it's gone.'**

**'Gone?' said Filch, his face contorting with rage.**

**'Gone,' said Harry calmly.**

**Filch opened his mouth furiously, mouthed for a few seconds, then raked Harry's robes with his eyes.**

**'How do I know you haven't got it in your pocket?'**

**'Because - '**

"Because they're empty maybe," said Ginny sarcastically.

**'I saw him send it,' said Cho angrily.**

**Filch rounded on her.**

**'You saw him - ?'**

**That's right, I saw him,' she said fiercely.**

"Nice catch Harry," said Sirius grinning at his godson.

"Shut up," Harry muttered elbowing Sirius in the leg.

"What I'm being serious- quiet Moony- she sounds like she's a nice girl and she's willing to stick her neck out for you," he replied as Harry blushed as he noticed that the attention of the room seemed to be on him.

**There was a moment's pause in which Filch glared at Cho and Cho glared right back, then the caretaker turned on his heel and shuffled back towards the door. He stopped with his hand on the handle and looked back at Harry.**

**'If I get so much as a whiff of a Dungbomb . . .'**

**He stumped off down the stairs. Mrs Norris cast a last longing look at the owls and followed him.**

"I bet she tries to eat them," muttered Ginny. As much as she liked cats and other animals, she hated Mrs Norris. That flea bag had had it in for her ever since it had been petrified, like she knew it had been Ginny that had let the Basilisk loose. Ginny shuddered at the thought, pushing the unwanted memories from her mind.

**Harry and Cho looked at each other.**

**Thanks,' Harry said.**

**No problem,' said Cho, finally fixing the parcel to the barn owl's other leg, her face slightly pink. 'You weren't ordering Dungbombs, were you?'**

"She was blushing, see she likes you," grinned Tonks tapping Harry on the shoulder as Sirius lent behind her to whisper to Remus,

"Yeah Moony, she's blushing, she likes you." Remus's retort however was cut off as Tonks lent back into her spot and nearly crushed Sirius who was still behind her.

"Move Sirius, you're hogging the seat," she told him.

"Just telling Remus something Tonks, no need to fret," he said putting his hands up in surrender.

**'No,' said Harry.**

**'I wonder why he thought you were, then?' she said as she carried the owl to the window.**

**Harry shrugged. He was quite as mystified by that as she was, though oddly it was not bothering him very much at the moment.**

Moody rolled his good eye and mumbled to himself about pretty girls, constant vigilance and distractions.

**They left the Owlery together. At the entrance of a corridor that led towards the west wing of the castle, Cho said, 'I'm going this way. Well, I'll . . . I'll see you around, Harry.'**

"I'll see you round Harry," said George in a high girly voice, laughing as he dodged the pillow Harry lobbed at him.

**'Yeah . . . see you.'**

**She smiled at him and departed. Harry walked on, feeling quietly elated. He had managed to have an entire conversation with her and not embarrassed himself once . **

**. . you were really brave standing up to her like that . . . Cho had called him brave . . . she did not hate him for being alive . . .**

_Oh Harry_ thought Sirius sadly.

**Of course, she had preferred Cedric, he knew that . . . though if he'd only asked her to the Ball before Cedric had, things might have turned out differently . . . she had seemed sincerely sorry that she'd had to refuse when Harry asked her . . .**

"You should ask her again, I think she'd like that" said Ginny suddenly whispered to Harry, quietly enough that he was the only one to hear her. Harry frowned, didn't Ginny like him? Well, if she didn't at least it would be less awkward between them.

"Yeah I think I will, thanks Ginny," he replied smiling. _Maybe not completely over him then _he thought seeing the slightly disappointed look in her eyes_ at least she's trying though_ added the voice in his head.

**'Morning,' Harry said brightly to Ron and Hermione as he joined them at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.**

**'What are you looking so pleased about?' said Ron, eyeing Harry in surprise.**

**'Erm . . . Quidditch later,' said Harry happily, pulling a large platter of bacon and eggs towards him.**

"Liar!" said Ron in a mock outraged voice.

"Oh shut up," replied Harry sticking his tongue out at his friend.

**'Oh . . . yeah . . .' said Ron. He put down the piece of toast he was eating and took a large swig of pumpkin juice. Then he said, 'Listen . . . you don't fancy going out a bit earlier with me, do you? Just to - er - give me some practice before training? So I can, you know, get my eye in a bit.'**

"You'll be fine, I don't know what you're worried about," said Hermione as Ron shrugged and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like _the Twins_.

**'Yeah, OK,' said Harry.**

**'Look, I don't think you should,' said Hermione seriously. 'You're both really behind on homework as it - '**

**But she broke off; the morning post was arriving and, as usual, the Daily Prophet was soaring towards her in the beak of a screech owl, which landed perilously close to the sugar bowl and held out a leg. Hermione pushed a Knut into its leather pouch, took the newspaper, and scanned the front page critically as the owl took off.**

**'Anything interesting?' said Ron. Harry grinned, knowing Ron was keen to keep her off the subject of homework.**

"You're always keen to keep me off the subject of homework," mumbled Hermione rolling her eyes.

"Well, yeah, it's homework," replied Ron as if Hermione had missed something important.

**'No,' she sighed, 'just some guff about the bass player in the Weird Sisters getting married.'**

"Oh really, who'd he marry?" asked Tonks.

"Um, some singer that I've never heard of," replied _Harry_ as _Ron_ shrugged.

"Well that's no help at all," said Tonks pouting.

"It's not like you have that long to find out whom it is Tonks dear," smiled Molly.

**Hermione opened the paper and disappeared behind it. Harry devoted himself to another helping of eggs and bacon. Ron was staring up at the high windows, looking slightly preoccupied.**

**'Wait a moment,' said Hermione suddenly. 'Oh no . . . Sirius!'**

"What! What is it?" asked Emmeline looking worriedly at the man next to her as the rest of the room hushed so Fred could keep reading.

**'What's happened?' said Harry, snatching at the paper so violently it ripped down the middle, with him and Hermione each holding one half.**

**' "The Ministry of Magic has received a tip-off from a reliable source that Sirius Black, notorious mass murderer . . . blah blah blah . . .is currently hiding in London!" ' Hermione read from her half in an anguished whisper.**

"Shit," sighed Sirius, ignoring Molly's glare at his use of language.

"So Malfoy _did_ recognise you," said Kingsley.

"Yeah and there goes my last bit of freedom," replied Sirius sourly, his mood instantly dropping at the thought of not being able to leave at all.

"Yeah but if we can work it out you might still be able to go out as a dog," reminded Harry which surprisingly cheered Sirius up a bit.

"Yeah I forgot about that," he replied lighting up a little as the rest of the room prayed that it would work out for Sirius's sake.

**'Lucius Malfoy, I'll bet anything,' said Harry in a low, furious voice. 'He did recognise Sirius on the platform . . .'**

**What?' said Ron, looking alarmed. 'You didn't say - '**

**'Shh!' said the other two.**

"You two never tell me anything," grumbled Ron as Hermione and Harry rolled their eyes.

"They still don't," called _Ron_ from across the room, his cheerful tone masking his annoyance at the fact, as _Harry_ smiled sheepishly next to him.

**'. . . "Ministry warns wizarding community that Black is very dangerous . . . killed thirteen people . . . broke out of Azkaban . . ." the usual rubbish,' Hermione concluded, laying down her half of the paper and looking fearfully at Harry and Ron. 'Well, he just won't be able to leave the house again, that's all,' she whispered. 'Dumbledore did warn him not to.'**

Remus winced, he could practically feel Sirius's glare burning into the mahogany design of the coffee table in front of them. Sirius had never been the best at taking orders. He was brilliant if it was in regards to the safety of others or vital to the capture of a Death Eater. Sirius knew the risks of joining the Order and thinking like the enemy had always come naturally to him – probably because of his upbringing- so most of the time he did what Dumbledore told him too. But at the moment Sirius was under orders for his own personal safety, something of which Sirius had never really held in a high regard- again probably because of his upbringing- and that was what worried Remus the most, because the more time Sirius spent in this house with his memories…well orders or no orders Sirius wasn't going last much longer.

**Harry looked down glumly at the bit of the Prophet he had torn off. Most of the page was devoted to an advertisement for Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, which was apparently having a sale.**

**'Hey!' he said, flattening it down so Hermione and Ron could see it. 'Look at this!'**

**'I've got all the robes I want,' said Ron 'No,' said Harry. 'Look . . . this little piece here . . ." Ron and Hermione bent closer to read it; the item was barely an inch long and placed right at the bottom of a column. It was headlined:**

_**TRESPASS AT MINISTRY**_

"Good eye Potter," said Moody.

_**Sturgis Podmore, 38, of number two, Laburnum Gardens, Clapham, has appeared in front of the Wizcngamot charged with trespass and attempted robbery at the Ministry of Magic on 31" August. Podmore was arrested by Ministry of Magic watchwizard Eric Munch, who found him attempting to force his way through a top-security door at one o'clock in the morning. Podmore, who refused to speak, in his own defence, was convicted on both charges and sentenced to six months in Azkaban.**_

"Blimey, six months in Azkaban for trying to get through a door?" cried Fred indignantly.

"Maybe it was an important door," replied Luna looking up at the boy next to her as Moody gave her a suspicious look.

**'Sturgis Podmore?' said Ron slowly. 'He's that bloke who looks like his head's been thatched, isn't he? He's one of the Ord-**

"Are you daft Weasley!" hissed Moody.

**'Ron, shh' said Hermione, casting a terrified look around them.**

**'Six months in Azkaban!' whispered Harry, shocked. 'Just for trying to get through a door!'**

"That's what I said," said Fred to himself.

"You're talking to a book mate," grinned George.

**'Don't be silly, it wasn't just for trying to get through a door. What on earth was he doing at the Ministry of Magic at one o'clock in the morning?' breathed Hermione.**

**D'you reckon he was doing something for the Order?' Ron muttered.**

"No he couldn't have, he was arrested the day before we left for Hogwarts, they wouldn't have put him on a mission then because they needed him the next day for the guard," reasoned Harry.

"Yes but they probably thought he wouldn't get caught," countered Hermione.

"Maybe he was framed?" added Ron his eyes widening as a new idea came to him but before he could voice it he was interrupted by Fred who had read further down the page while they were talking.

"You three are scary sometimes you know that?" he said shaking his head.

"What do you mean?" asked Kingsley looking as confused as the rest of the room bar _Harry_ and _Ron_ who vaguely remembered this conversation. Instead of answering Fred just read the next part of the book with a slight look of awe on his face.

**'Wait a moment . . .' said Harry slowly. 'Sturgis was supposed to come and see us off, remember?'**

**The other two looked at him.**

**'Yeah, he was supposed to be part of our guard going to King's Cross, remember? And Moody was all annoyed because he didn't turn up; so he couldn't have been on a job for them, could he?'**

**'Well, maybe they didn't expect him to get caught,' said Hermione.**

**'It could be a frame-up!' Ron exclaimed excitedly. **

"That's really creepy," said George the look on his face now identical to that of his brothers.

**'No - listen!' he went on, dropping his voice dramatically at the threatening look on Hermione's face. The Ministry suspects he's one of Dumbledore's lot so - I dunno - they lured him to the Ministry, and he wasn't trying to get through a door at all! Maybe they've just made something up to get him!'**

"I was just thinking that!" exclaimed Ron excitedly.

"That is plausible," said Kingsley nodding at Ron.

"It's actually quite scary how close you were," said _Harry_ as _Ron_ nodded.

"What do you mean?" asked Bill.

"It'll come up later," grinned _Ron_ as the room collectively groaned.

**There was a pause while Harry and Hermione considered this. Harry thought it seemed far-fetched. Hermione, on the other hand, looked rather impressed.**

Ron beamed at Hermione who smiled back encouragingly.

**'Do you know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that were true.'**

**She folded up her half of the newspaper thoughtfully. As Harry laid down his knife and fork, she seemed to come out of a reverie.**

**'Right, well, I think we should tackle that essay for Sprout on self-fertilising shrubs first and if we're lucky we'll be able to start McGonagall's Inanimatus Conjurus Spell before lunch . . .'**

**Harry felt a small twinge of guilt at the thought of the pile of homework awaiting him upstairs, but the sky was a clear, exhilarating blue, and he had not been on his Firebolt for a week . . .**

"Boys, you'll never get it done if you keep thinking like that," chided Molly.

"I know but it's just so tempting," replied Harry.

**'I mean, we can do it tonight,' said Ron, as he and Harry walked down the sloping lawns towards the Quidditch pitch, their broomsticks over their shoulders, and with Hermione's dire warnings that they would fail all their OWLs still ringing in their ears. **

"You're going to wear yourselves out like that, I can't remember the number of times that James and Sirius did that and it came back to bite them," chided Remus.

**'And we've got tomorrow. She gets too worked up about work, that's her trouble . . .' There was a pause and he added, in a slightly more anxious tone, 'D'you think she meant it when she said we weren't copying from her?'**

"Yes," answered Hermione sternly.

**'Yeah, I do,' said Harry. 'Still, this is important, too, we've got to practise if we want to stay on the Quidditch team . . .'**

"You probably don't but I sure as hell do," muttered Ron.

"Ronald, don't swear," scolded Molly.

"Honestly Molly, could you please ease up the reprimands, they're obviously going to keep to doing it and it's not like they are bad curses or anything," pleaded Sirius.

"Yeah, it's getting a bit annoying actually," added Tonks smiling apologetically.

"Oh alright, but so help me, if I hear one f-word there will be hell to pay," said Molly conceding once she saw the pleading looks of the adults in the room.

"Thank you," grinned Sirius.

**'Yeah, that's right,' said Ron, in a heartened tone. 'And we have got plenty of time to do it all . . .'**

**As they approached the Quidditch pitch, Harry glanced over to his right to where the trees of the Forbidden Forest were swaying darkly. Nothing flew out of them; the sky was empty but for a few distant owls fluttering around the Owlery tower. He had enough to worry about; the flying horse wasn't doing him any harm; he pushed it out of his mind.**

"Is that why you don't tell us they're there in the first place?" Ginny asked Dumbledore.

"I suspect that they don't want the first years to think they are going to walk into a horse every time they go outside," added Luna before Dumbledore could answer.

"Yes, that is one of the reasons," he laughed in reply.

**They collected balls from the cupboard in the changing room and set to work, Ron guarding the three tall goalposts, Harry playing Chaser and trying to get the Quaffle past Ron. Harry thought Ron was pretty good; he blocked three-quarters of the goals Harry attempted to put past him and played better the longer they practised. After a couple of hours they returned to the castle for lunch - during which Hermione made it quite clear she thought they were irresponsible - then returned to the Quidditch pitch for the real training session. All their teammates but Angelina were already in the changing room when they entered.**

**All right, Ron?' said George, winking at him.**

**Yeah,' said Ron, who had become quieter and quieter all the way down to the pitch.**

"At least you're being nice about it," Ron told George.

"I'm always nice," he replied airily.

**'Ready to show us all up, Ickle Prefect?' said Fred, emerging tousle-haired from the neck of his Quidditch robes, a slightly malicious grin on his face.**

"Malicious grin?" spluttered Fred. "I don't have a malicious grin," he exclaimed.

"Says the boy who about to mess up his brother's first Quidditch practice," muttered Ginny.

**'Shut up,' said Ron, stony-faced, pulling on his own team robes for the first time. They fitted him well considering they had been Oliver Wood's, who was rather broader in the shoulder.**

"Well at least we know what size robes to get for you," shrugged George.

"I suppose your height made up for the broadness of Oliver's shoulders or something," added Hermione.

**'OK, everyone,' said Angelina, entering from the Captain's office, already changed. 'Let's get to it; Alicia and Fred, if you can just bring out the ball crate for us. Oh, and there are a couple of people out there watching but I want you to just ignore them, all right?'**

**Something in her would-be casual voice made Harry think he might know who the uninvited spectators were, and sure enough, when they left the changing room for the bright sunlight of the pitch it was to a storm of catcalls and jeers from the Slytherin Quidditch team and assorted hangers-on, who were grouped halfway up the empty stands and whose voices echoed loudly around the stadium.**

"They should make it a rule that other teams aren't allowed to watch practises," said Sirius no doubt thinking of the number of times the Slytherin team had shown up at his practises to jeer at them.

**'What's that Weasley's riding?' Malfoy called in his sneering drawl. 'Why would anyone put a flying charm on a mouldy old log like that?'**

Ron growled.

"Relax mini-me Malfoy may have the faster broom but you can out manoeuvre him any day," said _Ron_ calmly from across the room.

"Really, how?" Ron asked his older self.

"Trust me, we have some great moves that Malfoy can't even think about doing," _Ron _replied winking, leaving the rest of the room wondering what he was talking about.

**Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson guffawed and shrieked with laughter. Ron mounted his broom and kicked off from the ground and Harry followed him, watching his ears turn red from behind.**

"You just need to ignore them son," sighed Arthur.

**'Ignore them,' he said, accelerating to catch up with Ron, 'we'll see who's laughing after we play them . . .'**

"It's easier said than done I'm afraid," said Remus gravely.

**'Exactly the attitude I want, Harry' said Angelina approvingly soaring around them with the Quaffle under her arm and slowing to hover on the spot in front of her airborne team. 'OK, everyone, we're going to start with some passes just to warm up, the whole team please - '**

**'Hey, Johnson, what's with that hairstyle, anyway?' shrieked Pansy Parkinson from below. 'Why would anyone want to look like they've got worms coming out of their head?'**

_Harry _and _Ron_ snorted once again drawing the attention of the room.

"I didn't know braids were so unattractive," _Harry _shrugged.

"They're not," replied Ginny confused. "Wait you're telling me she's trying to insult Angelina's braids," she added incredulously after a minute.

"That's what it says here," said Fred not looking up as he continued to read while Ginny and a few others snorted as well.

**Angelina swept her long braided hair out of her face and continued calmly, 'Spread out, then, and let's see what we can do . . .'**

**Harry reversed away from the others to the far side of the pitch. Ron fell back towards the opposite goal. Angelina raised the Quaffle with one hand and threw it hard to Fred, who passed to George, who passed to Harry, who passed to Ron, who dropped it.**

"Oh Merlin," grumbled Ron as he rested his head on his knees in order to avoid the pitiful looks he was sure to be getting.

**The Slytherins, led by Malfoy, roared and screamed with laughter. Ron, who had pelted towards the ground to catch the Quaffle before it landed, pulled out of the dive untidily, so that he slipped sideways on his broom, and returned to playing height, blushing. Harry saw Fred and George exchange looks, but uncharacteristically neither of them said anything, for which he was grateful.**

"Good," said Molly as Ron flushed and sank lower in his seat.

**'Pass it on, Ron,' called Angelina, as though nothing had happened.**

**Ron threw the Quaffle to Alicia, who passed back to Harry, who passed to George . . .**

**'Hey, Potter, how's your scar feeling?' called Malfoy. 'Sure you don't need a lie down? It must be, what, a whole week since you were in the hospital wing, that's a record for you, isn't it?'**

"My record is three months thank you very much," _Harry_ defended drawing some amused looks from the group and a small smile from Ron, therefore temporarily lifting the tension in the room.

**George passed to Angelina; she reverse-passed to Harry, who had not been expecting it, but caught it in the very tips of his fingers and passed it quickly to Ron, who lunged for it and missed by inches.**

**'Come on now, Ron,' said Angelina crossly, as he dived for the ground again, chasing the Quaffle. 'Pay attention.'**

**It would have been hard to say whether Ron's face or the Quaffle was a deeper scarlet when he again returned to playing height. Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherin team were howling with laughter.**

"Hand signals," said Remus suddenly.

"What?" asked Tonks and Emmeline at the same time.

"Hand signals," Remus repeated as if he had been misheard. "And ear plugs, if Ron can't hear what they're saying then it would be easier for him to ignore them," he added when some of the group still looked confused.

"Oh, that actually makes sense," nodded Tonks.

"Yeah but it would be easier if the Slytherins weren't there in the first place," disagreed Emmeline. "You should be able to do something about that Albus," she added looking at her ex-Headmaster.

"I can certainly try but short of having staff member accompany practises, there isn't much I would be able to do to enforce it," Dumbledore replied.

**On his third attempt, Ron caught the Quaffle; perhaps out of relief he passed it on so enthusiastically that it soared straight though Katie's outstretched hands and hit her hard in the face.**

"Oh come on! My luck can't be that bad," exclaimed Ron exasperatedly.

**'Sorry!' Ron groaned, zooming forwards to see whether he had done any damage.**

**'Get back in position, she's fine!' barked Angelina. 'But as you're passing to a teammate, do try not to knock her off her broom, won't you? We've got Bludgers for that!'**

Ron was now banging his head on his arms as he lent on the coffee table.

"Stop it Ron, it's not that bad," Hermione murmured in his ear.

"That's what you think," Ron replied.

"Blimey I'd forgotten how bad this practise was," blurted _Harry_ as _Ron_ nodded effectively restarting the younger version of _Ron _start banging his head again.

"Shut up," Hermione hissed as _Harry _nodded guiltily.

**Katie's nose was bleeding. Down below, the Slytherins were stamping their feet and jeering. Fred and George converged on Katie.**

**'Here, take this,' Fred told her, handing her something small and purple from out of his pocket, 'it'll clear it up in no time.'**

_Harry_ and _Ron_ winced think of what was about to happen.

**'All right,' called Angelina, 'Fred, George, go and get your bats and a Bludger. Ron, get up to the goalposts. Harry, release the Snitch when I say so. We're going to aim for Ron's goal, obviously.'**

**Harry zoomed off after the twins to fetch the Snitch.**

**'Ron's making a right pig's ear of things, isn't he?' muttered George, as the three of them landed at the crate containing the balls and opened it to extract one of the Bludgers and the Snitch.**

"And I'm sure you were brilliant during your first practise," said Tonks sweetly as Fred shrugged but at least had the decency to look a little guilty.

**'He's just nervous,' said Harry, 'he was fine when I was practising with him this morning.'**

**'Yeah, well, I hope he hasn't peaked too soon,' said Fred gloomily.**

"Not even close," chirped _Ron_ brightly before whistling the chorus of 'Weasley is our King' making _Harry_ laugh and the other stare in confusion.

**They returned to the air. When Angelina blew her whistle, Harry released the Snitch and Fred and George let fly the Bludger. From that moment on, Harry was barely aware of what the others were doing. It was his job to recapture the tiny fluttering golden ball that was worth a hundred and fifty points to the Seeker's team and doing so required enormous speed and skill. He accelerated, rolling and swerving in and out of the Chasers, the warm autumn air whipping his face, and the distant yells of the Slytherins so much meaningless roaring in his ears . . . but too soon, the whistle brought him to a halt again.**

"Yeah but Ron can still hear them," muttered Bill.

**'Stop - stop - STOP!' screamed Angelina. 'Ron - you're not covering your middle post!'**

**Harry looked round at Ron, who was hovering in front of the left-hand hoop, leaving the other two completely unprotected.**

**'Oh . . . sorry . . .'**

**'You keep shifting around while you're watching the Chasers!' said Angelina. 'Either stay in centre position until you have to move to defend a hoop, or else circle the hoops, but don't drift vaguely off to one side, that's how you let in the last three goals!'**

**'Sorry . . .' Ron repeated, his red face shining like a beacon against the bright blue sky.**

"Shut up Harry this is bad enough without your stupid descriptions," groaned Ron irritably.

"It's not like I wrote this!" Harry defended.

"It came out of your head though so you must have been thinking it," countered Ron.

**'And Katie, can't you do something about that nosebleed?'**

**'It's just getting worse!' said Katie thickly, attempting to stem the flow with her sleeve.**

**Harry glanced round at Fred, who was looking anxious and checking his pockets. He saw Fred pull out something purple, examine it for a second and then look round at Katie, evidently horror-struck.**

"I told you those things were dangerous! But did you listen no," scowled Molly as the Twins look horrified.

"You boys need to be more careful about what you are giving out," Arthur added as the Twins nodded appearing to be a little green.

**'Well, let's try again,' said Angelina. She was ignoring the Slytherins, who had now set up a chant of 'Gryffindor are losers, Gryffindor are losers,' but there was a certain rigidity about her seat on the broom nevertheless.**

**This time they had been flying for barely three minutes when Angelina's whistle sounded. Harry, who had just sighted the Snitch circling the opposite goalpost, pulled up feeling distinctly aggrieved.**

**'What now?' he said impatiently to Alicia, who was nearest.**

**'Katie,' she said shortly.**

**Harry turned and saw Angelina, Fred and George all flying as fast as they could towards Katie. Harry and Alicia sped towards her, too. It was plain that Angelina had stopped training just in time; Katie was now chalk white and covered in blood.**

The Twins looked horror stuck as Fred kept reading desperate to find out if Katie was okay or not.

**'She needs the hospital wing,' said Angelina.**

**'We'll take her,' said Fred. 'She - er - might have swallowed a Blood Blisterpod by mistake - '**

"Boys," sighed Molly shaking her head, it seems they'll just have to learn the hard way.

**'Well, there's no point continuing with no Beaters and a Chaser gone,' said Angelina glumly as Fred and George zoomed off towards the castle supporting Katie between them. 'Come on, let's go and get changed.'**

**The Slytherins continued to chant as they trailed back into the changing rooms.**

**'How was practice?' asked Hermione rather coolly half an hour later, as Harry and Ron climbed through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room.**

**'It was - ' Harry began.**

"Worst training session ever," said the Twins as Ron winced slightly.

**'Completely lousy,' said Ron in a hollow voice, sinking into a chair beside Hermione. She looked up at Ron and her frostiness seemed to melt.**

"Awe," cooed Ginny, laughing as both Ron and Hermione's face turned red and Ron sunk down into the cushions as if he was trying to hide under the coffee table.

**'Well, it was only your first one,' she said consolingly, 'it's bound to take time to - '**

**'Who said it was me who made it lousy?' snapped Ron.**

"Half a sentence," said Harry deadpan. "She got half a sentence out, that has to be a new record," he added shaking his head as Ron banged his head on the table again.

"Stop it Ronald, there's no need to hurt yourself," said Molly as Hermione pulled him back up.

**'No one,' said Hermione, looking taken aback, 'I thought - '**

**'You thought I was bound to be rubbish?'**

**'No, of course I didn't! Look, you said it was lousy so I just - '**

**'I'm going to get started on some homework,' said Ron angrily and stomped off to the staircase to the boys' dormitories and vanished from sight. Hermione turned to Harry.**

**'Was he lousy?'**

**No,' said Harry loyally.**

**Hermione raised her eyebrows.**

**'Well, I suppose he could've played better,' Harry muttered, 'but it was only the first training session, like you said . . .'**

"Ron-" Harry started but he was cut off by Ginny,

"Don't apologise Harry, you're just being honest. My prat of a brother just has to deal with it," she said as Ron nodded.

"Don't worry about Harry I know I was lousy," he said.

"You weren't, you were just distracted by the Slytherins, if they hadn't been there you would have been great," Harry promised.

**Neither Harry nor Ron seemed to make much headway with their homework that night. Harry knew Ron was too preoccupied with how badly he had performed at Quidditch practice and he himself was having difficulty in getting the 'Gryffindor are losers' chant out of his head.**

"It always is," commented Remus.

**They spent the whole of Sunday in the common room, buried in their books while the room around them filled up, then emptied. It was another clear, fine day and most of their fellow Gryffindor's spent the day out in the grounds, enjoying what might well be some of the last sunshine that year. By the evening, Harry felt as though somebody had been beating his brain against the inside of his skull.**

"Maybe you should try getting some aspirin or Panadol?" suggested Tonks.

"What's that?" asked Bill.

"It's the Muggle cure for pain and headaches," she replied.

"Besides Madame Pomphrey doesn't give out potions for headaches unless it's a migraine or something, most of the time she just tells you to drink more water," added Sirius.

"But wouldn't you need permission to bring Muggle substances into Hogwarts?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, some Muggleborn children come to Hogwarts with allergies that their parents don't feel comfortable using magic on, so all Harry would need would be written consent from Sirius," said Dumbledore effectively answering Hermione's question.

"Do you think that would work?" Harry asked his older self.

"Maybe, I never thought of it so it wouldn't hurt to try," _Harry_ shrugged.

**'You know, we probably should try and get more homework done during the week, Harry muttered to Ron, as they finally laid aside Professor McGonagall's long essay on the Inanimatus Conjurus Spell and turned miserably to Professor Sinistra's equally long and difficult essay about Jupiter's many moons.**

"I remember doing that, and I still don't understand the point of it, surely we could have just written a paragraph for each moon or something, it's not really essay worthy unless you're going into astrology," said Bill who grimaced as he remember his particularly horrid answer to that question.

"It would certainly free up time," nodded Kingsley.

**'Yeah,' said Ron, rubbing slightly bloodshot eyes and throwing his fifth spoiled bit of parchment into the fire beside them. 'Listen . . . shall we just ask Hermione if we can have a look at what she's done?'**

**Harry glanced over at her; she was sitting with Crookshanks on her lap and chatting merrily to Ginny as a pair of knitting needles flashed in midair in front of her, now knitting a pair of shapeless elf socks.**

Hermione huffed as Harry grinned cheekily at her.

**'No,' he said heavily, 'you know she won't let us.'**

**And so they worked on while the sky outside the windows became steadily darker. Slowly, the crowd in the common room began to thin again. At half past eleven, Hermione wandered over to them, yawning.**

**'Nearly done?'**

**'No,' said Ron shortly.**

"There's no need to snap son," commented Arthur.

**'Jupiter's biggest moon is Ganymede, not Callisto,' she said, pointing over Ron's shoulder at a line in his Astronomy essay, 'and it's lo that's got the volcanoes.'**

"That's probably not the best way to point that out," laughed Emmeline as Ron's ears turned red and there were a few scattered chuckles around the room.

**Thanks,' snarled Ron, scratching out the offending sentences.**

**'Sorry, I only - '**

**'Yeah, well, if you've just come over here to criticise - '**

**'Ron - '**

**'I haven't got time to listen to a sermon, all right, Hermione, I'm up to my neck in it here - '**

"Well next time you won't leave everything till last minute will you," sniffed Molly.

**'No - look!'**

**Hermione was pointing to the nearest window. Harry and Ron both looked over. A handsome screech owl was standing on the windowsill, gazing into the room at Ron.**

**'Isn't that Hermes?' said Hermione, sounding amazed.**

**'Blimey, it is!' said Ron quietly, throwing down his quill and getting to his feet. 'What's Percy writing to me for?'**

"Good question," growled Moody.

**He crossed to the window and opened it; Hermes flew inside, landed on Ron's essay and held out a leg to which a letter was attached. Ron took the letter off it and the owl departed at once, leaving inky footprints across Ron's drawing of the moon Io.**

**That's definitely Percy's handwriting,' said Ron, sinking back into his chair and staring at the words on the outside of the scroll: Ronald Weasley, Gryffindor House, Hogwarts. He looked up at the other two. 'What d'you reckon?'**

**'Open it!' said Hermione eagerly, and Harry nodded.**

**Ron unrolled the scroll and began to read. The further clown the parchment his eyes travelled, the more pronounced became his scowl. When he had finished reading, he looked disgusted. He thrust the letter at Harry and Hermione, who leaned towards each other to read it together:**

_**Dear Ron,**_

_**I have only just heard (from no less a person than the Minister for Magic himself, who has it from your new teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a Hogwarts prefect.**_

_**I was most pleasantly surprised when I heard this news and must firstly offer my congratulations. I must admit that I have always been afraid that you would take what we might call the 'Fred and George' route, **_

"The _what_ route?" growled Fred.

"I wasn't aware that we had a 'route'" added George.

"He means not coming across as trying at school, he knows you two are smart but he just thinks you would do even better if you actually put some effort in," said _Ron_ defending his older brother.

"How do you know?" asked Ginny curiously.

"He told me," _Ron _replied shrugging.

_**rather than following in my footsteps, so you can imagine my feelings on hearing you have stopped flouting authority and have decided to shoulder some real responsibility.**_

"I'll give him responsibility," grumbled Ron almost under his breath.

_**But I want to give you more than congratulations, Ron, I want to give you some advice, which is why I am sending this at night rather than by the usual morning post. Hopefully, you will be able to read this away from prying eyes and avoid awkward questions.**_

_**From something the Minister let slip when telling me you are now a prefect, I gather that you are still seeing a lot of Harry Potter. **_

"That makes it sound like you two are dating or something," snorted Ginny.

"Ginny! That's disgusting," groaned Ron as Harry gagged at the thought.

"Yeah, that's like incest or something," added _Harry_ as _Ron _shuddered causing the room to laugh at the reactions of both sets of the boys.

_**I must tell you, Ron, that nothing could put you in danger of losing your badge more than continued fraternisation with that boy. Yes, I am sure you are surprised to hear this - no doubt you will say that Potter has always been Dumbledore's favourite - but I feel bound to tell you that Dumbledore may not be in charge at Hogwarts much longer **_

Whispers broke out amongst the Order members as they tried to puzzle together what Percy could have meant and it got so loud that Fred had to raise his voice in order to be heard.

_**and the people who count have a very different - and probably more accurate - view of Potter's behaviour. I shall say no more here, but if you look at the Daily Prophet tomorrow you will get a good idea of the way the wind is blowing - and see if you can spot yours truly!**_

_**Seriously, Ron, you do not want to be tarred with the same brush as Potter, it could be very damaging to your future prospects, **_

"'_It could be very damaging for your future prospects'_" mumbled Ginny in a voice that very closely resembled Percy.

"You're very good at that, have you been getting lessons?" Luna asked her before Fred could keep reading.

"No Luna I haven't," Ginny laughed in reply.

_**and I am talking here about life after school, too. As you must be aware, given that our father escorted him to court, Potter had a disciplinary hearing this summer in front of the whole Wizengamot and he did not come out of it looking too good. He got off on a mere technicality, if you ask me, and many of the people I've spoken to remain convinced of his guilt.**_

"If more than half of the Wizengamot agreeing with me is a technicality, I'll take it," grinned _Harry_.

_**It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with Potter - I know that he can be unbalanced and, for all I know, violent - but if you have any worries about this, or have spotted anything else in Potter's behaviour that is troubling you, I urge you to speak to Dolores Umbridge, a truly delightful woman who I know will be only too happy to advise you.**_

_**This leads me to my other bit of advice. As I have hinted above, Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts may soon be over. Your loyalty, Ron, should be not to him, but to the school and the Ministry. I am very sorry to hear that, so far, Professor Umbridge is encountering very little co-operation from staff as she strives to make those necessary changes within Hogwarts that the Ministry so ardently desires (although she should find this easier from next week - again, see the Daily Prophet tomorrow!). **_

"So it's nothing good if it has something to do with Umbridge," Tonks scoffed.

_**I shall say only this - a student who shows himself willing to help Professor Umbridge now may be very well-placed for Head Boy ship in a couple of years!**_

"I very much doubt that," muttered _Ron._

"Who were they heads in our seventh year?" _Harry _asked _Ron _suddenly.

"Um Malfoy and Greengrass maybe, Snape wouldn't have chosen Parkinson, even he knew she wasn't very bright, but I honestly don't have a clue," _Ron _murmured back.

_**I am sorry that I was unable to see more of you over the summer. It pains me to criticise our parents, but I am afraid I can no longer live under their roof while they remain mixed up with the dangerous crowd around Dumbledore. (If you are writing to Mother at any point, you might tell her that a certain Sturgis Podmore, who is a great friend of Dumbledore's, has recently been sent to Azkaban for trespass at the Ministry. Perhaps that will open their eyes to the kind of petty criminals with whom they are currently rubbing shoulders.) **_

"What and Fudge being in Malfoy's pocket had nothing to do with it," Sirius hissed sarcastically.

_**I count myself very lucky to have escaped the stigma of association with such people - the Minister really could not be more gracious to me - and I do hope, Ron, that you will not allow family ties to blind you to the misguided nature of our parents' beliefs and actions, either. **_

_**I sincerely hope that, in time, they will realise how mistaken they were and I shall, of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that day comes.**_

"He'll be waiting for a while then," growled the Twins.

"Boys stop it," sighed Mr Weasley indicating the distressed look on his wife's face.

"He'll come around eventually Molly, don't worry," said Emmeline as Molly nodded wiping the tears from her eyes, Arthur however wasn't as sure. He knew his son and once he found out the truth Arthur feared that he wouldn't have the courage to admit that he was wrong, Gryffindor or not Percy had always had trouble with such admissions.

_**Please think over what I have said most carefully, particularly the bit about Harry Potter, and congratulations again on becoming prefect.**_

_**Your brother,**_

_**Percy**_

**Harry looked up at Ron.**

**'Well,' he said, trying to sound as though he found the whole thing a joke, 'if you want to - er - what is it?' - he checked Percy's letter - 'Oh yeah - "sever ties" with me, I swear I won't get violent.'**

_Ron _blanched thinking about the time he _had_ severed ties- even if it had only been for a short time- well, he as well as _Harry_ had gotten violent.

"Don't think about it, it's in the past and it doesn't matter anymore, you came back," _Harry_ whispered in _Ron's_ ear, successfully guessing what the other man had been thinking. _Ron_ leaned over to whisper back- exactly what he wasn't sure- when he was interrupted,

"What are you two whispering about over there?" asked Emmeline.

"Nargles," said _Harry _the lie coming to him easily_._

"Oh are there some in here, they must be hiding," said Luna as she fingered the Butterbeer cork necklace that hung around her neck.

_What's a Nargle?_ Emmeline mouthed to Sirius, Tonks and Remus all of whom shrugged and before turning their attention back to Fred who after asking George the same question had gone back to reading.

**'Give it back,' said Ron, holding out his hand. 'He is - ' Ron said jerkily, tearing Percy's letter in half 'the world's - ' he tore it into quarters 'biggest - ' he tore it into eighths 'git.' He threw the pieces into the fire.**

"I can't believe he told me do that!" cried Ron.

"Yeah as if you would ever abandon Harry," agreed Ginny missing the look that crossed her brother's face.

**'Come on, we've got to get this finished sometime before dawn,' he said briskly to Harry, pulling Professor Sinistra's essay back towards him.**

**Hermione was looking at Ron with an odd expression on her face.**

**'Oh, give them here,' she said abruptly.**

"Hermione, you shouldn't be helping them," frowned Molly.

"Oh come on dear, there's nothing wrong with her proof reading them, she's only helping," replied Arthur as Hermione flushed.

**'What?' said Ron.**

**'Give them to me, I'll look through them and correct them,' she said.**

**'Are you serious? Ah, Hermione, you're a life-saver,' said Ron, 'what can I - ?'**

**'What you can say is, "We promise we'll never leave our homework this late again," ' she said, holding out both hands for their essays, but she looked slightly amused all the same.**

"We promise," chorused Harry and Ron grinning at Hermione who just rolled her eyes but couldn't stop the smirk from tugging at the corner of her lips.

**'Thanks a million, Hermione,' said Harry weakly, passing over his essay and sinking back into his armchair, rubbing his eyes.**

"You shouldn't be up that late doing essays anyway," fretted Molly, though she new perfectly well that there were only so many hours in the day in which they had to finish all of their work.

**It was now past midnight and the common room was deserted but for the three of them and Crookshanks. The only sound was that of Hermione's quill scratching out sentences here and there on their essays and the ruffle of pages as she checked various facts in the reference books strewn across the table. Harry was exhausted. He also felt an odd, sick, empty feeling in his stomach that had nothing to do with tiredness and everything to do with the letter now curling blackly in the heart of the fire.**

"Don't think about it Potter, it'll do you no good to dwell on it," advised Moody.

**He knew that half the people inside Hogwarts thought him strange, even mad; he knew that the Daily Prophet had been making snide allusions to him for months, but there was something about seeing it written down like that in Percy's writing, about knowing that Percy was advising Ron to drop him and even to tell tales about him to Umbridge, that made his situation real to him as nothing else had. **

Harry nodded, even reading about it didn't make the situation feel any more real than hearing what was being written about him in the papers, it was kind of a surreal experience that he supposed wouldn't feel real until that moment of watch Percy's letter burn in the fire.

**He had known Percy for four years, had stayed in his house during the summer holidays, shared a tent with him during the Quidditch World Cup, had even been awarded full marks by him in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament last year, yet now, Percy thought him unbalanced and possibly violent.**

**And with a surge of sympathy for his godfather, Harry thought Sirius was probably the only person he knew who could really understand how he felt at the moment, because Sirius was in the same situation. Nearly everyone in the wizarding world thought Sirius a dangerous murderer and a great Voldemort supporter and he had had to live with that knowledge for fourteen years . . .**

Sirius placed his hand on Harry's shoulder who had turned around to smile at him

**Harry blinked. He had just seen something in the fire that could not have been there. It had flashed into sight and vanished immediately. No . . . it could not have been . . . he had imagined it because he had been thinking about Sirius . . .**

Remus groaned, "Please tell me you haven't done something stupid."

"Okay, I won't," replied Sirius cheerfully.

**'OK, write that down,' Hermione said to Ron, pushing his essay and a sheet covered in her own writing back to Ron, 'then add this conclusion I've written for you.'**

**'Hermione, you are honestly the most wonderful person I've ever met,' said Ron weakly, 'and if I'm ever rude to you again - '**

"Then I'll know that you haven't been confunded or something," said Hermione cutting off Fred.

**- I'll know you're back to normal,' said Hermione. **

"Same thing," Hermione added shrugging as Ginny, Luna and Harry laughed.

**'Harry, yours is OK except for this bit at the end, I think you must have misheard Professor Sinistra, Europa's covered in ice, not mice - 'Harry?'**

"I'm pretty sure that was a spelling mistake," muttered _Harry_.

"How do you misspell ice with an 'm' though?" asked Hermione grinning at the older version of her best friend.

"I don't know it was years ago," cried _Harry_ indignantly.

"Then how do you know you didn't just mishear Sinistra?" added Ron as the Twins, Ginny and Luna snickered.

"He's got you there _Harry_," laughed Tonks.

"Shut-up," grumbled _Harry_ in reply, sulking as the rest of the room laughed.

**Harry had slid off his chair on to his knees and was now crouching on the singed and threadbare hearthrug, gazing into the flames.**

**'Er - Harry?' said Ron uncertainly. 'Why are you down there?'**

**'Because I've just seen Sirius's head in the fire,' said Harry.**

"What?" asked Harry turning to look at Sirius who was grinning sheepishly at Remus.

**He spoke quite calmly; after all, he had seen Sirius's head in this very fire the previous year and talked to it, too; nevertheless, he could not be sure that he had really seen it this time . . . it had vanished so quickly . . .**

**'Sirius's head?' Hermione repeated. 'You mean like when he wanted to talk to you during the Triwizard Tournament? But he wouldn't do that now, it would be too - Sirius!'**

"Yes Hermione that's exactly what it would be," agreed Remus glaring at his best friend.

"You know that not what she meant," defended Sirius.

"He's right, you popped up in the fire while she was talking," Fred added.

"Doesn't matter, the fact still stands that only you would do something that stupid making it a _very_ 'Sirius' thing to do," Remus countered waspishly.

**She gasped, gazing at the fire; Ron dropped his quill. There in the middle of the dancing flames sat Sirius's head, long dark hair failing around his grinning face.**

**'I was starting to think you'd go to bed before everyone else had disappeared,' he said. 'I've been checking every hour.'**

"Of course you did," muttered Remus rubbing his temples.

"What, I bet I'm answering Harry's letter and I can't exactly make sure he's alone without checking can I," replied Sirius heatedly. Remus's eyes softened as he looked at the annoyed look on his friends face.

"I know, we just don't want you to get caught," he told Sirius quietly.

**'You've been popping into the fire every hour?' Harry said, half-laughing.**

**'Just for a few seconds to check if the coast was clear.'**

"And what exactly were you going to do if someone had seen you?" asked Molly sternly.

"I-I don't-" Sirius stuttered but Molly cut him off.

"Exactly, you don't know what you would have done, if you want to help Harry you need to start thinking before you do something risky like this," she told him causing Sirius to flush.

"You don't think I would have thought this through? I know what happens if I get caught, but I'll be damned if I just sit back and do nothing while Harry needs me!" he yelled in reply.

"You're no help to anyone dead Black," commented Moody grimly.

**'But what if you'd been seen?' said Hermione anxiously.**

**'Well, I think a girl - first-year, by the look of her - might've get a glimpse of me earlier, but don't worry,' Sirius said hastily, as Hermione clapped a hand to her mouth, 'I was gone the moment she looked back at me and I'll bet she just thought I was an oddly-shaped log or something.'**

"You better hope so," growled Molly, leaving Sirius looking like a badly scolded child.

**'But, Sirius, this is taking an awful risk - ' Hermione began.**

**'You sound like Molly,' said Sirius. This was the only way I could come up with of answering Harry's letter without resorting to a code - and codes are breakable.'**

**At the mention of Harry's letter, Hermione and Ron both turned to stare at him.**

"Oh so you didn't even tell us, Sirius did, thanks for that Harry," grumbled Ron effectively taking some of the attention off Sirius.

"Well it's not like I really had the time," Harry argued before mouthing 'thanks' as most of the room chuckled.

**'You didn't say you'd written to Sirius!' said Hermione accusingly.**

**'I forgot,' said Harry, which was perfectly true; his meeting with Cho in the Owlery had driven everything before it out of his mind. 'Don't look at me like that, Hermione, there was no way anyone would have got secret information out of it, was there, Sirius?'**

"No it was good," said Sirius smiling down at Harry who grinned back.

**'No, it was very good,' said Sirius, smiling. 'Anyway, we'd better be quick, just in case we're disturbed - your scar.'**

"See that's definitely not something I could have put in a letter," said Sirius sulkily.

**'What about - ?' Ron began, but Hermione interrupted him.**

**'We'll tell you afterwards. Go on, Sirius.'**

**'Well, I know it can't be fun when it hurts, but we don't think it's anything to really worry about. It kept aching all last year, didn't it?'**

**'Yeah, and Dumbledore said it happened whenever Voldemort was feeling a powerful emotion,' said Harry, ignoring, as usual, Ron and Hermione's winces. 'So maybe he was just, I dunno, really angry or something the night I had that detention.'**

**'Well, now he's back it's bound to hurt more often,' said Sirius.**

**'So you don't think it had anything to do with Umbridge touching me when I was in detention with her?' Harry asked.**

**'I doubt it,' said Sirius. 'I know her by reputation and I'm sure she's no Death Eater - '**

**'She's foul enough to be one,' said Harry darkly, and Ron and Hermione nodded vigorously in agreement.**

**'Yes, but the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters,' said Sirius with a wry smile. 'I know she's a nasty piece of work, though - you should hear Remus talk about her.'**

"Good times," laughed Sirius as Remus's lips twitched.

**'Does Lupin know her?' asked Harry quickly, remembering Umbridge's comments about dangerous half-breeds during her first lesson.**

**'No,' said Sirius, 'but she drafted a bit of anti-werewolf legislation two years ago that makes it almost impossible for him to get a job.'**

_Harry_ smiled, that had been one of the first things to go when Hermione had gotten into her job. In its place was the Lupin Foundation, which between himself, Hermione, Ron and Andromeda support was given to werewolves (as well as their families) that were turned during or before the war, and provided that they pasted a series of background checks support towards re-joining the magical community was also given. Most of the people that had come forward were now helping to rebuild the villages that had been attacked by the werewolves under the control of Fenir Greyback and were well on the way to being accepted back into society, many still had reservations towards the program but Andromeda as well as Bill had helped ebb some of the fears that many people still had.

**Harry remembered how much shabbier Lupin looked these days and his dislike of Umbridge deepened even further.**

Remus laughed as _Harry_ winked and then grinned at him from across the room.

**'What's she got against werewolves?' said Hermione angrily.**

**'Scared of them, I expect,' said Sirius, smiling at her indignation. 'Apparently, she loathes part-humans; she campaigned to have merpeople rounded up and tagged last year, too. Imagine wasting your time and energy persecuting merpeople when there are little toerags like Kreacher on the loose.'**

"He's honestly not that bad Sirius," said _Harry_ looking at his godfather.

"How wou-" Sirius started, but he cut himself off when he saw a pained look flash across _Harry's_ eyes. _How would Harry know that, unless I miraculously accepted Kreacher in the future _Sirius thought. He glanced down at the younger version of his godson before looking back up at _Harry._ Something must have happened to him, it was the only thing that made sense, but Sirius knew better than to bring it up at a time like this and instead he shrugged and added, "I know but old habits die hard and I _really_ don't like Kreacher."

**Ron laughed but Hermione looked upset.**

**'Sirius!' she said reproachfully. 'Honestly, if you made a bit of an effort with Kreacher, I'm sure he'd respond. After all, you are the only member of his family he's got left, and Professor Dumbledore said - '**

"I know you mean well Hermione but bringing Dumbledore into the conversation probably isn't the best idea, particularly if it has something to do with Kreacher," Sirius told her.

**'So, what are Umbridge's lessons like?' Sirius interrupted. 'Is she training you all to kill half-breeds?'**

"As if," snorted Ginny.

"That would be like telling us to kill her," added Fred.

"How do you figure that?" asked Kingsley curiously.

"Well according to Harry she's part toad and I'm getting a bit of a hag vibe from her," George replied jokingly as the teenagers (as well as some of the more young at heart Order members) burst out laughing.

"Ah, that's brilliant, definitely Marauder worthy," laughed Remus wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes as the Twins beamed.

**'No,' said Harry, ignoring Hermione's affronted look at being cut off in her defence of Kreacher. 'She's not letting us use magic at all!'**

**'All we do is read the stupid textbook,' said Ron.**

**'Ah, well, that figures,' said Sirius. 'Our information from inside the Ministry is that Fudge doesn't want you trained in combat.'**

"What does he think we're going to do, form an army and storm the Ministry?" asked Harry doubtfully.

"You think your joking, but that's exactly what he thinks," _Harry _told his younger self who once again snorted in disbelief.

**'Trained in combat!' repeated Harry incredulously. 'What does he think we're doing here, forming some sort of wizard army?'**

**That's exactly what he thinks you're doing,' said Sirius, 'or, rather, that's exactly what he's afraid Dumbledore's doing - forming his own private army, with which he will be able to take on the Ministry of Magic.'**

"That is honestly the most stupid think I have ever heard," muttered Bill.

**There was a pause at this, then Ron said, 'That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard, including all the stuff that Luna Lovegood comes out with.'**

"I'm glad to know you think I'm smarter than Mr Fudge," said Luna smiling slyly at Ron.

"No worries Luna," replied Ron, glad she had taken his comment as a compliment rather than an insult.

**'So we're being prevented from learning Defence Against the Dark Arts because Fudge is scared we'll use spells against the Ministry?' said Hermione, looking furious.**

**'Yep,' said Sirius. 'Fudge thinks Dumbledore will stop at nothing to seize power. He's getting more paranoid about Dumbledore by the day. It's a matter of time before he has Dumbledore arrested on some trumped-up charge.'**

"Glad to see you're still on form Black," said Moody nodding approvingly towards Sirius.

"What does he mean?" asked Bill looking slightly confused.

"Sirius here has always been one of our best at judging the character of people," remarked Dumbledore smiling at his ex-pupil.

"Not that it helped with Pettigrew," uttered Sirius sourly.

"None of us are infallible Sirius, you were not the only one that Pettigrew tricked, in fact you were they only one to see through his act," Dumbledore answered kindly.

"Not until it was too late," Sirius countered closing his eyes and trying not to think of that night. Harry took this silence as a chance to once again reassure Sirius by pressing himself into Sirius's legs, hoping that he would understand that he, Harry did not blame him for what happened.

"Thanks Harry," smiled Sirius as he felt the extra pressure on his lower limbs and patted Harry's hair.

**This reminded Harry of Percy's letter.**

**'D'you know if there's going to be anything about Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet tomorrow? Ron's brother Percy reckons there will be - '**

**'I don't know,' said Sirius, 'I haven't seen, anyone from the Order all weekend, they're all busy. It's just been Kreacher and me here,'**

"Oh no wonder you've been so stupid then," cried Emmeline, if Sirius was on his own than he had not only contacted Harry about his letter but because he was obviously feeling lonely and had no one there to talk him out of it.

**There was a definite note of bitterness in Sirius's voice.**

**'So you haven't had any news about Hagrid, either?'**

**'Ah . . .' said Sirius, 'well, he was supposed to be back by now, no one's sure what's happened to him.' Then, seeing their stricken faces, he added quickly, 'But Dumbledore's not worried, so don't you three get yourselves in a state; I'm sure Hagrid's fine.'**

"So you don't actually know," sighed Harry grumpily.

"We told you, _Harry_ and I know exactly where he is," grumbled _Ron_, "Honestly, we're from the future, we know these things."

"So where is he then?" asked Ginny her eyebrow raised.

"We can't say," _Ron _replied grinning.

"And that is why we don't listen to you," Ginny retorted dryly.

**'But if he was supposed to be back by now . . .' said Hermione in a small, anxious voice.**

**'Madame Maxime was with him, we've been in touch with her and she says they got separated on the journey home - but there's nothing to suggest he's hurt or - well, nothing to suggest he's not perfectly OK.'**

Harry sighed still worried about his friend.

**Unconvinced, Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks.**

**'Listen, don't go asking too many questions about Hagrid,' said Sirius hastily, 'it'll just draw even more attention to the fact that he's not back and I know Dumbledore doesn't want that. Hagrid's tough, he'll be OK.' And when they did not appear cheered by this, Sirius added, 'When's your next Hogsmeade weekend, anyway? I was thinking, we got away with the dog disguise at the station, didn't we? I thought I could - '**

"NO!" Harry, and just about everyone in the room shouted at once.

"Jeez, I get it, bad idea. There's no need to shout," cried Sirius with his hands covering his now ringing ears.

**'NO!' said Harry and Hermione together, very loudly.**

**'Sirius, didn't you see the Daily Prophet?' said Hermione anxiously.**

**'Oh, that,' said Sirius, grinning, 'they're always guessing where I am, they haven't really got a clue - '**

"They know you're in London young man so you are going to stay put until you are told otherwise," scolded Molly as Sirius's eyes widened and he quickly nodded before he realised what he was doing and stopped.

**'Yeah, but we think this time they have,' said Harry. 'Something Malfoy said on the train made us think he knew it was you, and his father was on the platform, Sirius - you know, Lucius Malfoy - so don't come up here, whatever you do. If Malfoy recognises you again - '**

"I won't Harry, I'm probably just a little bit lonely and bored out of my brain," remarked Sirius sounding slightly put out.

"Well then I'll just have to keep you company won't I," purred Emmeline in his ear causing Sirius to almost jump out of his skin as her warm breath tickled his ear and her silky words replayed themselves in his head till he was dizzy with delight.

"I might have to take you up on that Love," Sirius whispered back sounding rather flirty.

**'All right, all right, I've got the point,' said Sirius. He looked most displeased. 'Just an idea, thought you might like to get together.'**

"As much as I love seeing you I can wait until Christmas," said Harry before turning to look at Sirius who obviously was too preoccupied with whatever Emmeline was whispering in his ear. _Especially if you're going to have Emmeline over_ he added shuddering at the thought of Sirius and Emmeline having…_whoa stop thinking about it_ Harry almost screamed in his head thankful that no one could hear his thoughts and the disturbing route they had taken.

**'I would, I just don't want you chucked back in Azkaban!' said Harry.**

**There was a pause in which Sirius looked out of the fire at Harry, a crease between his sunken eyes.**

**'You're less like your father than I thought,' he said finally, a definite coolness in his voice. 'The risk would've been what made it fun for James.'**

_Harry_ winced thinking about what Sirius had told him the night before.

**'Look - '**

**'Well, I'd better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs,' said Sirius, but Harry was sure he was lying. 'I'll write to tell you a time I can make it back into the fire, then, shall I? If you can stand to risk it?'**

"Sirius!" cried Tonks, smacking her cousin in the chest, "There's no need for that."

"Sorry," said Sirius directing his apology towards _Harry _and _Ron _rather than their younger versions and Hermione.

**There was a tiny pop, and the place where Sirius's head had been was flickering flame once more.**

"That's the end of the chapter," said Fred closing the book and resting it on the coffee table.

"Right that's enough excitement for one night I want you all in bed now," said Molly finally breaking the silence. One by one the teenagers stood and walked up the stairs towards bed, for once too tired to argue.

"Harry," called Sirius, "Do you think you could wait for me in my room?" he asked before Harry could get out the door.

"Yeah sure," Harry called back nodding.

"Professor, there is no way that you can hire that…that…woman to teach, she's dangerous!" hissed Molly once the teenagers had left and were out of ear shot.

"I know Molly, but there is only so much I can do if Cornelius decides that he wants one of his own at Hogwarts, particularly if he gets enough support," replied Dumbledore.

"But surely you can do _something_," pleaded Emmeline.

"Unfortunately not, the slander that has been in the papers about not only Harry but myself as well has made it extremely difficult to find-" started Albus but he was cut off by Molly.

"What about Remus, from what I've heard most if not all of the students loved him, and I know for a fact that Ron's marks almost doubled the year that Remus taught," Molly argued.

"As much as I appreciate it Molly, I think my presents at the school would only give Fudge more of an excuse to have Umbridge there," countered Remus.

"Not to mention that the position is jinxed and we don't want anything to happen to Lupin," added _Ron_ before his mother could argue.

"But I thought that was just a rumour," said Tonks frowning as many of the other Order members nodded.

"No, young Mr Weasley is correct. Tom Riddle jinxed the position when I refused to hire him just over fifty years ago," Dumbledore agreed.

"Tom Riddle?" gasped Arthur as Molly's eyes widened.

"Who's Tom Riddle?" asked Kingsley, trying to remember where he had heard the name before.

"Voldemort," _Harry _answered bluntly.

"You-Know-Who wanted to be a teacher?" asked Bill incredulously.

"It's in the next book," _Harry_ shrugged.

"If that is all it is late and I need to return to Hogwarts," said Dumbledore rising to leave after a few moments of silence.

"Actually Professor, before you leave we were wondering if you had any ideas of places where Dolohov could be hiding?" asked _Harry_. Dumbledore frowned and walked towards the fireplace, warming his hands as he contemplated his answer.

"We were at the graveyard in Little Hangleton this morning. There was a group of Death Eaters there, Lucius Malfoy included. We think it was a recruitment meeting," added _Ron._

"And you're sure he was going to be there?" asked Moody.

"Yeah, Kingsley and Hermione found his hideout before we left so we know that he planned to arrive here two days ago on the sixth and that he was planning on starting to look for Voldemort in Little Hangleton," replied _Harry_.

"And you definitely know he's not there?" questioned Sirius who frowned when _Harry _and _Ron_ both nodded.

"The only person who knows where he is right now is Snape, but from what I've found out from you Professor, he isn't able to say," _Harry _answered before turning his attention to Dumbledore.

"Yes, he's under oath not to reveal Voldemort's location, not even to me," agreed Dumbledore turning away from the fire to face the rest of the room, his eyes flickering between _Harry _and _Ron _as he thought. "There were three of them you said?" he added, as the two young men nodded.

"Yeah, but Dolohov is most likely the eldest and he's definitely in charge, we think the other two are just here as his lackies," said _Ron_ leaning forward in his seat so his elbows rested on his knees.

"Then it would have to be a hideout with at least room for three people," nodded Dumbledore. "I think you should perhaps try the abandoned shack that sits half a mile outside of Little Hangleton. It's close enough to the graveyard that Dolohov would be able to keep an eye on what was going on without being seen if he didn't want to be, but far enough out of the village that it's not often seen by the Muggle residents," Dumbledore added, his bright blue eyes twinkling as he nodded to himself.

"Thanks Professor, _Ron_ and I'll check it out tomorrow," said _Harry_ smiling.

"It's not a problem," replied Dumbledore also smiling as he moved towards the door.

* * *

Harry could see why Sirius didn't let very many people into his room, besides the total mess the room was in from years of neglect Harry couldn't help but think that Mrs Weasley wouldn't be very happy if her sons took a sudden interest in the scantily clad Muggle girls that lined the walls. Harry laughed to himself as he lay on the bed thinking of Mrs Weasley reaction.

"What are you snickering at?" came Sirius's voice from the doorway.

"Just thinking what Mrs Weasley's reaction would be to your room," Harry told him as he sat up and Sirius followed by Remus entered the room. Remus chuckled as Sirius blanched,

"She'd make him throw them out probably, we wouldn't want to scar her impressionable young daughter now do we," he teased as Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I think she'd be more worried about her sons ogling at all day them more than anything," said Sirius as he moved up the bed so he was sitting next to Harry with Remus sitting on the end facing them.

"So what did you want to talk about tonight?" Harry asked tentatively. The two men exchanged glances before Sirius answered,

"Well we were wondering if you wanted to tell us what the older you talked to you about before."

"Oh," responded Harry before pausing and staring at his hands. "He just wanted me to know that I need to watch my temper, apparently what I'm feeling is being amplified by what Voldemort is so when he's angry I get angry or more angry, I didn't really understand him but he said it'll come up in the books so I should get it by then," Harry stated before glancing up at the two men and trailing off.

"Was that all?" asked Remus curiously.

"No, I-I asked him if Dumbledore had a good reason for ignoring me," Harry answered looking both men in the eye to gauge their reaction. Remus for his part didn't even look slightly surprised that Harry had noticed while Sirius's eyes had gone stormy but his face was otherwise blank.

"And was it a good reason?" Sirius asked trying to keep his tone neutral.

"No, well yes, he said Dumbledore think it's a good reason but he wouldn't tell me what it was." Said Harry shrugging, then crossing his arms grumpily he added, "I think he's enjoying it."

"Of course older you is enjoying it, how many opportunities do you get to tease a younger version of yourself?" laughed Sirius.

"I know it's just frustrating, like when he and _Ron_ are talking about Snape or to him, it's driving me crazy," Harry ranted before pouting as Remus and Sirius laughed at him. Silence followed as Harry caught his breath before adding quietly, "You want to know about Marge don't you."

Sirius sighed and squeezed Harry's hand, he and Remus had decided on the way up that they would let Harry raise the issue of Marge. Both of them had had to deal with abusive relatives whether it be physical, like Sirius's family had been or emotional, like Remus's aunts and uncles had been after he was bitten so they knew how delicate it would be for Harry to talk about. "You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to Harry, you know that," he said as Harry looked up and smiled tentatively.

"No I want to, it's just I don't really remember it," said Harry as Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"You don't remember it?" he asked half confused half thankful.

"Well I remember what she did but it was never important, I mean she wouldn't let me win musical chairs, and one year she gave me a box of dog biscuits for Christmas – which happens to be one of the most expensive gifts I've ever gotten from a Dursley – and then her dog chased me up a tree for a couple of hours but that's it," replied Harry shrugging. Remus shook his head in disbelief at Harry's flippant attitude towards his aunt.

"You're honestly telling me that everything she did to you doesn't matter?" asked Remus incredulously.

"Well no, but the only thing I've ever actually cared about was when she was bad mouthing my parents and I got her back for that, even if she doesn't remember it," said Harry grinning slightly as the memory.

"What did she say about Lily and James, and what do you mean you got her back?" asked a very confused Sirius.

"She-she said a few things like called mum a 'bad egg' and called dad a 'wastrel' and said he was no good and lazy, because Uncle Vernon said he didn't work," he paused for a second, "Is that true, the unemployed bit I mean?" he asked cutting himself off.

"He didn't need to, your family has enough gold that James didn't have to work and still be able to provide for you and Lily," Remus clarified and Harry nodded the frown that had been adorning his face clearing.

"Besides we were in the middle of a war, none of us had the time for jobs, your Aunt and Uncle only knew that James was unemployed because they met him at, I think it was Petunia's engagement party* or something, I don't remember, but back to business, how did you get back at Marge?" added Sirius his expression switching from dark to excited as he continued talking.

"She yelled that they died in a car crash and called me a nasty little liar and an ungrateful burden on the Dursley's or something like that," Harry told then shaking his head at the memory before smiling cheekily. "I don't really know how I did it but the next thing I know Marge is inflating like a balloon," he imitated the action by puffing out his cheeks and widening his eyes, "and bouncing off the ceiling, some people from the Ministry had to come and let her down but I'd already left by then," Harry finished as Remus and Sirius both had to hold back hysterical laughter for fear that Molly would come and yell at them for waking everyone up – which would be a little hypocritical since she would be the one yelling and all.

"Alright, I'll think we'll leave it there for the night, unless there was anything else you wanted to ask?" asked Remus. Harry frowned trying to remember something from earlier in the day; _it was something to do with Ginny_ he thought.

"Oh," he cried, "did you really mean what you said about all Potter men marrying red heads? I mean my dad had to like my mum for something other than her hair right?" he asked.

"Ouch, Moony what was that for?" yelled Sirius as Remus kicked him in the leg.

"I told you they would take your stupid joke to heart," he growled as Sirius grinned sheepishly.

"So it's not true?" Harry clarified.

"No, your grandmother was a Black, and she most definitely did not have red hair, as for what James liked about Lily, well he liked everything about her, but he did have a slight obsession with her hair," Sirius replied grinning.

"We don't actually know what he thought was so amazing about her hair, but if you asked him he could go on for about an hour before he started to repeat himself," added Remus laughing. Harry smiled, it was nice to know these things about his parents, not only did it help him paint a picture of what they would have been like as parents in his head but hearing stories about them made his dreams seem much more real, like memories rather than his imagination.

"Alright Pup, if you want to continue our conversation from last night you had better get into bed before you fall asleep on top of it like last night," said Sirius as the conversation lulled.

"I'll leave you to it," chuckled Remus as Harry yawned. He stood before stretching and walking slowly to the door.

"Night Remus," called Harry from the adjoining bathroom where he was now changing into his pyjamas.

"Goodnight Harry," Remus called back before adding, "Goodnight Sirius."

"Night Moony," replied Sirius, "sweet dreams, I'm sure Tonks will feature in them," he added, laughing as Remus sent him a glare and a rude gesture before heading out the door to his own room.

"Like you aren't going to be dreaming of Emmeline," retorted Harry grinning at the dirty look Sirius shot him as he climbed into the bed ready for what would hopefully be his last late night therapy session.

* * *

***I found this particular fact on Pottermore. Sorry this chapter is so late but I've just had a week were I had 5 assessments (and by that I mean like 1000 word essays and one 2500 mathematics lesson outline/plan) all due on the one day...so not much time to do anything let alone updating this...so sorry buts that RL and there not much I can do about that so thanks for your patience and please review :)**


	21. The Hogwarts High Inquisitor

**Okay so bit of plot in this one, some of you wanted to know what Harry and Ron were doing while they were out and this chapter touches a bit on what happened at the graveyard only from a different perspective as well as what they're doing while the others are reading. Tell me what you think about my oc's, I'm quite fond of Darvill actually (And yes Arthur Darvill is my inspiration for his name and looks)...bit of swearing, well the f-word anyway.**

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you may recognise is the work of JKRowling. Please review :)**

* * *

8th August 1995

It was quiet. The early morning sun flitted through the trees casting an eerie light on the forest floor. Leaves littered the ground as mist swirled around the trunks of the old gnarled trees. It was definitely too quiet. There was no wind rustling the leaves of the trees, no birds greeted the morning sun and no animals dare set foot out of their homes as the two dark figures pasted.

Teodore Darvill swore as he tripped over a root for the third time that morning, cursing once again that his lanky body was not made for outside use. He and his companion – and he used the term very loosely- were supposed to be looking for the Dark Lord so they could tell him of his defeat at the hands of Harry Potter (because that would be a wonderful conversation). Instead Darvill now found himself in some god forsaken forest, spying on people that were supposed to be their allies that were currently standing around in an extremely creepy graveyard. _I didn't even want to come here. I was perfectly fine where I was and now I'm in 1995 for fuck sake_ he thought bitterly. He almost swore under his breath again as he remembered when Dolohov had first approached him more than a month ago with his idea to go into the past. The man was insane and being hunted by Aurors so Darvill wasn't exactly surprised when Dolohov had threated to kill his heavily pregnant wife if he didn't comply. Of course the fact that his father had been an avid supporter of Voldemort and on his death the duty to serve his master had apparently pasted to him, didn't help. Neither Teodore nor his wife had been particularly happy when this had happened and both of them had made themselves scarce during the Battle of Hogwarts, determined not to get involved, but for this little adventure Dolohov had been very persistent.

"What are you doin' just standing there ya filthy whelp, get moving," hissed the man next to him, who Darvill only new by the name of Withers. He was a slimy bastard that was just as twisted as Dolohov from years in Azkaban, though not nearly as clever. He had shoulder length stringy hair that looked dirty, grey and was matted in places. His face was scared and filthy, his teeth were brown and rotting while his eyes had the haunted, hollow look that all of the victims of the Dementors had after too much exposure.

"I am moving," Darvill hissed in reply, ducking as Withers threw a tongue tying curse at him.

"And keep ya mouth shut I'm sick of your whinging, we've only been 'ere two days and ya haven't shut up about ya stupid wife," he snapped back as he moved ahead towards the edge of the forest.

Darvill joined him at the edge of the trees, taking care not to be seen by those in the graveyard. He could make out a few of the faces from when his father had thrown elaborate "Let's-all-praise-the-Dark-Lord" and "I'm-a-Pureblood-so-I'm-better-than-you" parties when he was younger, but most of the faces where obscured by masks. He could see a number of unmasked men and a few women mulling about the tombstones, obviously waiting for someone. Darvill hoped with all of his heart that it wasn't the Dark Lord. He wanted to get out of this alive.

"The Dark Lord isn't going to be 'ere," growled Withers. "I can see Malfoy, this is a bloody recruitment," he added. Darvill nodded as he too saw the tell-tale platinum blonde hair across the way.

"We need to get back to Dolohov, he was sure that the Dark Lord would be here," replied Darvill as he turned to walk back the shack they had made camp in.

"Wait," hissed Withers. "Something's 'appenin'" he called as Darvill sighed and rushed back to the gap in the trees. He looked back out at the scene in front of him, which as opposed to two minutes ago; the graveyard was now in chaos. Darvill could see some of the recruits trying to apparate as the bright lights of various spells whipped through the air.

"What happened?" asked Darvill as he saw a recruit get hit in the face with a stunner.

"It's that fucking Potter kid," said Withers swearing as Darvill watched the Auror take down two Death Eaters with a simple Expelliarmus, it was quite embarrassing actually. "And look, it's the blood traitor, Weasley with him," Withers added, pointing as another man joined the fray.

"How do you know it's them," Darvill asked frowning at the two men across from them, neither looking remotely like Potter or Weasley.

"'Cause unlike you I ain't stupid, I've seen those disguises before, the last time that pair o' bastards raided one of the safe houses," Withers replied scowling.

Darvill nodded in understanding, Withers was definitely smarter than he looked, and that was obviously something he would have to watch if he wanted to make it out of this alive. Darvill looked back to where the one Withers said was Potter had been just in time to see the boy head-butt Malfoy in the face, not that Darvill thought it was funny or anything.

"We need to get out of here," Darvill whispered as he watched more of the Death Eaters fall. Withers reluctantly nodded and followed Darvill back the way they had come. It wasn't a very long way so it didn't warrant the need to apparate but it was long enough that after a few minutes Darvill could here Withers muttering to himself. He could here random words, most of them curses, but he stopped walking as soon as he heard Withers muttering a particular sentence.

"You're going to double cross Dolohov," Darvill shouted, his eyes going wide.

"Keep your voice down ya filthy mongrel," snapped Withers turning to glare at the younger man. "Dolohov doesn't know what he's doin', he had an entire army of Death Eaters on the other side of this damn forest, not mention Malfoy could get us in contact with the Dark Lord, now we've got stinking Harry Potter on our tails," he added swearing again.

They continued walking together in silence, Withers occasionally muttering to himself while Darvill once again wondered if he was ever going to get back to his wife, she could have had the baby by now for all he knew.

"So what you're going to double cross Dolohov, and then give all of his information to Malfoy to pass on to the Dark Lord. Won't Malfoy take all of the credit then?" Darvill probed, breaking the silence as they approached the shack.

"Yes, but I'm willing to bet that Malfoy will be very willing to pay a pretty penny for my information," snarled Withers. _Right_ thought Darvill _he's not as smart as I thought_.

* * *

August 9th 1995 (Present Day)

It was just after breakfast when Harry and Ron reached the seemingly abandoned shack on the outskirts of Little Hangleton. They landed in the forest partly hidden from view as grey early morning light trickled down from the canopy. A gentle breeze shifted through the air, dancing among the ivy that covered the hovel in front of them before drifting up and making shapes in the smoke coming from one of the chimneys. Moving quickly and quietly Harry and Ron dashed to the entrance of the shack, and while no movement came from inside the small building, they were careful not to linger near the windows. Ron held his wand at the ready, waiting in his position directly in front of the door. Harry who was on the other side placed his hand flat on the door and pushed it open. The hovel was silent.

"Homenum Revelio" whispered Ron as he moved further into the room. Nothing happened. "Lumos," he added as the tip of his wand lit up the room and Harry followed him into the room.

"Can you smell something?" Harry asked as he too lit up his wand.

"Yeah, smells like something rotten," replied Ron sniffing the air. It was coming from the room that led off to their right. Harry moved forward, his wand out in front of him as he pushed open the second door. They were hit with one of the worst smells either of them had come across, and that included troll. Harry surveyed the room, his eyes drawn to the corpse splayed out on the floor, the flesh rotting in the heat of the coals from the fireplace.

"That is disgusting," gagged Ron, covering his mouth and nose as he moved closer to the body.

"Can you tell who it is?" asked Harry through his hand, which also covered his nose and mouth.

"Not really, his face is a bit bashed up but I think he looks kinda like that Withers guy. You know the one wanted for assault on Muggle women," said Ron trying to roll the body over with his foot so he didn't have to get too close.

"Yeah, good riddance then," replied Harry. "C'mon we better burn the body just in case someone from the Ministry finds him," he added moving back to make more room.

"That'd be a bit awkward to explain, especially since if it is Withers he's locked up in Azkaban at the moment," added Ron, his lips twitching as Harry levitated the body out the door.

"Incendio," whispered Harry a few minutes later as the makeshift pyre caught fire. They stood and watched for a few minutes as the flames licked around the body. This wasn't the first time that either Ron or Harry had had to burn a body whilst on the job. After the Battle of Hogwarts ended the remaining Death Eaters became desperate and the more cunning ones often left behind bodies of those who were no longer useful. It was common practise amongst the Aurors to burn the bodies of the guilty, mainly because they weren't fit to be buried, to have a place marked on the earth as if they were a decent hard working person instead of the bloody thirsty criminal that most were. The other reason for burning them was that most people didn't feel comfortable leaving them to decay or be taken by animals, they had after all, at one point been somebody's child, friend or family member.

"Time to go," said Ron once the last of the flames began to die, "We still have a couple of places to check out before we go back to Grimmauld". Harry nodded, giving one last look at the hot coals before thinking of their next destination and turning on the spot.

* * *

Meanwhile….

"Have _Harry _and _Ron_ gone off again?" asked Ginny as she sat down in the drawing room that morning. It was still strange for her to think of their being two versions of her brother and his best friend staying under the one roof.

"Yeah, they left just after dawn again this morning," replied Sirius from his spot behind her.

"I can't believe they are getting up that early," Ron said to Harry as Luna, the Twins, the elder Weasley's and Bill entered the room.

"They are chasing Death Eaters, I suppose," reasoned Harry as Hermione nodded on the other side of Ron.

"It's not like they are going to catch Dolohov if they don't get out of bed until noon, honestly Ron," she added as Ron rolled his eyes.

"Good Morning," sang Tonks as she, Remus and Emmeline joined Sirius on the lounge, "Do we know who's joining us?" she asked as she sat down…well…that was what she tried to do, instead she tripped over the leg of the coffee table and landed in Remus's lap as Ron and Hermione scrambled to get out of the way. "Oof," she squeaked as Sirius nearly fell over himself laughing at the look on Remus's face (while a few of the younger people in the room snickered at the not-quite-a-couple couple).

"Oh no you don't," Emmeline whispered in Sirius's ear before he could say anything that would even remotely get a reaction out of either Remus or Tonks. "You're not starting this again so early in the morning."

"But where's the fun in that?" replied Sirius pouting. But Emmeline's reply was cut off as Dumbledore, Hestia, Deadalus and a very grumpy looking Snape entered the room.

"Kingsley and Alastor will not be joining us today," said Dumbledore sitting in his usual seat next to Snape.

"So where did you disappear off to yesterday?" Sirius asked Snape as silence settled over the room.

"The Dark Lord summoned me for a new mission," he answered with his arms crossed. "Apparently some members of the Order of the Phoenix attacked one of the recruitment meetings yesterday morning, and the Dark Lord wants me to find out who they are," he added waspishly, glaring at Harry and Ron.

"They did what?" screeched Mrs Weasley as Snape suddenly remembered why he had not returned last night to finish reading.

"I'm sure they knew exactly what they were doing, Molly. And Severus, I'm sure they'll provide you with an explanation for you to give to Voldemort," said Dumbledore placidly.

"Do you know what happened?" Remus asked Snape who was now glaring at the floor.

"From what I've heard they were hiding in part of the cemetery-

"Cemetery? You mean the one in Little Hangleton?" asked Harry cutting Snape off.

"Yes that cemetery," agreed Snape as Harry paled and Sirius squeezed his shoulder. "Lucius doesn't know what they were doing, but I'm assuming they were looking for Dolohov," he drawled as most of the adults nodded.

"Right, if no one's going to read then I will," volunteered George. No one objected so he picked up the book off the coffee table and flicked to the next chapter. "**The Hogwart's High Inquisitor**" he read grimacing.

**They had expected to have to comb Hermione's Daily Prophet carefully next morning to find the article Percy had mentioned in his letter.**

"Nah, otherwise he wouldn't have been boasting about it that much," said Fred shrugging.

**However, the departing delivery owl had barely cleared the top of the milk jug when Hermione let out a huge gasp and flattened the newspaper to reveal a large photograph of Dolores Umbridge, smiling widely and blinking slowly at them from beneath the headline.**

"What a way to start the day," said George as he pretended to gag.

**MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM**

**DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED**

**FIRST EVER HIGH INQUISITOR**

"High Inquisitor, what's that supposed to be?" asked Ginny confused.

"I'm sure Mr Weasley will be able to answer the question if he keeps reading," replied Dumbledore as Ginny flushed and George nodded before continuing.

**'Umbridge - "High Inquisitor"?' said Harry darkly, his half-eaten piece of toast slipping from his fingers. 'What does that mean?'**

**Hermione read aloud:**

**'In a surprise move last night the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.**

"What, they can't do that!" cried Molly.

"But Fudge isn't allowed to interfere with Hogwarts!" cried Emmeline.

"Unfortunately my dear ladies, Cornelius has, as I'm sure you will discover in this chapter, a way around the law," Dumbledore told them, his blue eyes slightly narrowed at the book.

**' "The Minister has been growing uneasy about goings-on at Hogwarts for some time," said Junior Assistant to the Minister, Percy Weasley. "He is now responding to concerns, voiced by anxious parents, who feel the school may be moving in a direction they do not approve of."**

"So in other words good old Lucius has Fudge in his pocket and now he's using that to do whatever he wants as well as keep an eye on Harry and Dumbledore," growled Sirius, his eyes darkening.

**'This is not the first time in recent weeks that the Minister, Cornelius Fudge, has used new laws to effect improvements at the wizarding school. As recently as 30th August, Educational Decree Number Twenty-two was passed, to ensure that, in the event of the current Headmaster being unable to provide a candidate for a teaching post, the Ministry should select an appropriate person.**

"Yes because Dolores Umbridge is a kind and delightful woman and the most appropriate person out there to teach children how to defend themselves," said Hestia sarcastically, the sickly sweet tone in her voice surprising more than a few people at the sudden lack of her usual kindly nature.

"You know that it's extremely scary when you start talking like that, don't you Hestia," Dedalus whispered to her, before wincing as she glared at him.

**' "That's how Dolores Umbridge came to be appointed to the teaching staff at Hogwarts," said Weasley last night. "Dumbledore couldn't find anyone so the Minister put in Umbridge, and of course, she's been an immediate success - " '**

"I'm sorry but did I just hear 'immediate success'? Harry asked, glaring furiously at the book in George's hands.

"No," replied Ginny coolly as the others waited for Harry to start shouting (not that they would blame him but it was also too early in the morning to be shouting). "It said she's an immediate distress, and all of the students hate her and think she looks like a toad," she added smiling as Harry's lips twitched and the others laughed.

"Yeah, you're right Ginny, that's what I heard as well," Harry replied, who was also sick of hearing himself shout. And with that crisis averted George continued reading while Snape muttered to himself something about being surrounded by idiots.

**'She's been a WHAT?' said Harry loudly.**

"George just because it's written in capitals doesn't mean you need to be that loud this early in the morning," chided Molly as Emmeline, Hestia and Remus agreed with her.

**'Wait, there's more,' said Hermione grimly.**

**' "- an immediate success, totally revolutionising the teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts and providing the Minister with on-the-ground feedback about what's really happening at Hogwarts."**

"**So, essentially she's there to spy on us," said Fred**

**'It is this last function that the Ministry has now formalised with the passing of Educational Decree Number Twenty-three, which creates the new position of Hogwarts High Inquisitor.**

**' "This is an exciting new phase in the Minister's plan to get to grips with what some are calling the falling standards at Hogwarts," said Weasley. "The Inquisitor will have powers to inspect her fellow educators and make sure that they are coming up to scratch. Professor Umbridge has been offered this position in addition to her own teaching post and we are delighted to say that she has accepted."**

"She's doing what!" cried Snape, surprising many of the other rooms inhabitants, most of whom had forgotten he was there. "She's not coming anywhere near my classroom Dumbledore," he added furiously glaring at the book.

**'The Ministry's new moves have received enthusiastic support from parents of students at Hogwarts.**

"Well, they certainly didn't ask us," sniffed Molly.

"Of course they wouldn't have asked you mum, you're a known associate of Dumbledore and a bloody traitor, they aren't going to ask you anything," said Bill as Molly shook her head.

"Blood traitor and proud of it," she replied fiercely.

**' "I feel much easier in my mind now that I know Dumbledore is being subjected to fair and objective evaluation," said Mr Lucius Malfoy, 41, **

"Wait, Lucius Malfoy is 41? I thought you said you went to school with him?" said Harry suddenly, interrupting George.

"He was in sixth year when we started," explained Remus.

"He was a prefect at the time, and one of the reasons Gryffindor lost so many house points in our first two years," added Sirius.

"And I suppose that had nothing to do with the Marauders at all," said Emmeline rolling her eyes as Sirius grinned.

"What can I say, he made a good target," he laughed.

"Yes, Lucius and the rest of the Slytherin's always did seem to be a favourite," said Snape waspishly.

"Like you were so innocent," Sirius growled back.

"Not now Sirius," hissed Remus as Harry frowned and the same time as Dumbledore motioned for George to read,

"Mr Weasley if you would be so kind as to continue, otherwise I'm afraid that we will be here for a while," he said, effectively silencing the two men (though they were still glaring at each other) and ending the argument.

**speaking from his Wiltshire mansion last night. "Many of us with our children's best interests at heart have been concerned about some of Dumbledore's eccentric decisions in the last few years and are glad to know that the Ministry is keeping an eye on the situation."**

**'Among those eccentric decisions are undoubtedly the controversial staff appointments previously described in this newspaper, which have included the employment of werewolf Remus Lupin, half-giant Rubeus Hagrid and delusional ex-Auror, "Mad-Eye" Moody.**

"Well, putting it like that…" started Harry trailing off as he glanced between Ron and Hermione.

"What do you mean, what, you think they're right?" asked Fred incredulously.

"No, I mean they are all great in reality, but well, Remus did try to eat us when he was a werewolf," said Harry before going wide eyed and quickly adding, "no offence Remus," to which Remus smiled grimly and nodded.

"And the fake Moody did try to kill Harry, plus put him through the whole Tri-wizard tournament," added Hermione.

"What about Hagrid then?" asked Bill curiously.

"Follow the spiders," replied Ron, before turning back to George without even so much as looking like he was going to elaborate.

**'Rumours abound, of course, that Albus Dumbledore, once Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, is no longer up to the task of managing the prestigious school of Hogwarts.**

**' "I think the appointment of the Inquisitor is a first step towards ensuring that Hogwarts has a headmaster in whom we can all repose our confidence," said a Ministry insider last night.**

**'Wizengamot elders Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden have resigned in protest at the introduction of the post of Inquisitor to Hogwarts.**

**' "Hogwarts is a school, not an outpost of Cornelius Fudge's office," said Madam Marchbanks. "This is a further, disgusting attempt to discredit Albus Dumbledore."**

**'(For a full account of Madam Marchbanks's alleged links to subversive goblin groups, turn to page seventeen.)'**

"Figures, she sticks up for Dumbledore and the Prophet drags her name through the mud," said Tonks blowing her violet hair out of her eyes.

**Hermione finished reading and looked across the table at the other two.**

**'So now we know how we ended up with Umbridge! Fudge passed this "Educational Decree" and forced her on us! And now he's given her the power to inspect the other teachers!' Hermione was breathing fast and her eyes were very bright. 'I can't believe this. It's outrageous!'**

**'I know it is,' said Harry. He looked down at his right hand, clenched on the table-top, and saw the faint white outline of the words Umbridge had forced him to cut into his skin.**

**But a grin was unfurling on Ron's face.**

**'What?' said Harry and Hermione together, staring at him.**

Ron frowned before the same grinned lit up his face as he guessed what his book self was thinking.

"What?" asked Hermione as the rest of the room noticed him grinning.

"McGonagall," he answered before telling George, who along most of the room were now grinning, to keep reading.

**'Oh, I can't wait to see McGonagall inspected,' said Ron happily. 'Umbridge won't know what's hit her.'**

**'Well, come on,' said Hermione, jumping up, 'we'd better get going, if she's inspecting Binns's class we don't want to be late . . .'**

**But Professor Umbridge was not inspecting their History of Magic lesson, which was just as dull as the previous Monday, nor was she in Snape's dungeon when they arrived for double Potions, where Harry's moonstone essay was handed back to him with a large, spiky black 'D' scrawled in an upper corner.**

Harry frowned as Snape smirked slightly to himself.

"Don't worry Harry you should have seen the number of D's that James and I managed to get between ourselves in fifth year," said Sirius once again leaning down to squeeze Harry's shoulder.

"And every year after that," added Remus with a smile.

"But, everyone keeps saying that my dad was one of the 'brightest of his age', and you're saying that he got D's?" said Harry in disbelief, how many things that he had been told about his father (and his mother) were true?

"James and I never really put too much effort into our school work, we were much more interested in playing pranks on people, but that doesn't mean that we didn't know the material. Besides we were busy working out how to become an Animagus at the time," said Sirius soothingly as Harry's frown deepened.

"Both James and Sirius never seemed to have to put as much effort into studying as the rest of us. When they would be off playing Quidditch, Lily, Emmeline and I would be holed up in the library studying," continued Remus as Sirius sent him a smug smile.

"And then still managed to get top marks in most of their classes," Emmeline contributed before adding, "Sirius didn't even have to study for astronomy," she said glaring at the man next to her.

"Why?" Hermione asked curiously at the same time Harry asked,

"So it doesn't matter if I get a D?"

"Astronomy is in my blood, or so to speak, Black's are taught about the stars once we're old enough to understand, it's also a Black tradition to name the children after a star or constellation, like Draco. Narcissa was a Black so it looks like she kept the tradition," answered Sirius, his voice loud enough for the room to hear. Then in a lower voice he added, "No Harry, as long as you try your hardest it doesn't matter what grade you get, Remus and I will be proud of you, especially if it's from Snape," he finished winking at Harry who in turn grinned and nodded, happy with his answer.

**'I have awarded you the grades you would have received if you presented this work in your OWL,' said Snape with a smirk, as he swept among them, passing back their homework. 'This should give you a realistic idea of what to expect in the examination.'**

**Snape reached the front of the class and turned on his heel to face them.**

**The general standard of this homework was abysmal. Most of you would have failed had this been your examination. I expect to see a great deal more effort for this week's essay on the various varieties of venom antidotes, or I shall have to start handing out detentions to those dunces who get a "D".'**

"Don't call them dunces!" shrieked Molly. Dumbldore sighed as Severus rolled his eyes at the woman across the room. He had promised Molly that he would make sure that he spoke with Snape about his actions. Now, he was starting to doubt that he would even listen.

"That reminds me, I have a bone to pick with you," Sirius growled thinking of Harry's first lesson from a few chapters ago.

"And what would that be Black?" sneered Snape.

"You deliberately sabotaging Harry's work," said Sirius coldly.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about Black, in case you have forgotten, I wasn't present for our last book reading session," Snape spat.

"George, flip back and read it out to him," retorted Sirius, his arms crossed still glaring at the man across the room. George, (who along with the rest of the room didn't want to get caught in the cross fire) quickly flipped to the right page and read out the passage of Harry's first potions lesson.

"If I ever hear about you vanishing Harry's work so he doesn't even get a mark again then you will have me to answer to," Sirius replied icily.

"Oh, and what is the big bad Marauder going to do, try to kill me? How original of you," retorted Snape silkily, smirking as he saw Sirius flinch.

"That is enough the both of you," snapped Dumbledore. "Severus, Sirius and Molly are right, you are not allowed to bully your students, nor are you allowed to vanish the work that they hand in," he added as Snape glared at the floor, but otherwise made no indication that he had heard or acknowledged what Dumbledore had said.

**He smirked as Malfoy sniggered and said in a carrying whisper, 'Some people got a "D"? Ha!'**

"Oh please, just because he happens to be good at potions…" trailed off Hermione in a huff.

"I bet he didn't get anything higher than an A," said Ron scowling at the book.

"As much as I loath to admit it, Mr Weasley is right, it is exceedingly rare for anyone to score higher than an A on their first essay that has been marked to O.W.L standards," conceded Snape though not looking too happy about it. "In fact," he added, his oily voice sounding slightly smug, "Other than myself I have only known of one person to do so."

"Who?" asked Harry slightly curious at Snape's sudden change in mood.

"Your mum, Lily, she was amazing at potions, had a real flair for it," said Emmeline with a trace of awe on her voice.

"Really?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, she was one of my best friends," replied Emmeline, her eyes darting quickly at Snape, which he pointedly ignored, then back to Harry. Harry smiled happy to know that he had someone to talk about his mother with. While Sirius and Remus were great, they seemed to know more about James than Lily.

**Harry realised that Hermione was looking sideways to see what grade he had received; he slid his moonstone essay back into his bag as quickly as possible, feeling that he would rather keep that information private.**

"Sorry," murmured Hermione sheepishly, her face flushing with embarrassment.

**Determined not to give Snape an excuse to tail him this lesson, Harry read and reread every line of instructions on the blackboard at least three times before acting on them. His Strengthening Solution was not precisely the clear turquoise shade of Hermione's but it was at least blue rather than pink, like Neville's, and he delivered a flask of it to Snape's desk at the end of the lesson with a feeling of mingled defiance and relief.**

Snape rolled his eyes but made no comment.

"Pink isn't that bad, I saw a Strengthening Solution that was bright orange once," laughed Tonks as Harry let out a breath of relief.

"Orange? Who was that?" asked Ginny giggling.

"Charlie," replied Tonks with a grin as the other Weasley children gaped at her.

"Charlie turned his potion bright orange?" asked Bill chuckling as Tonks nodded enthusiastically.

"I still have no idea as to what he possibly could have added to it to make it that colour in the first place," muttered Snape to himself.

"Neither does he," replied Tonks overhearing him.

**'Well, that wasn't as bad as last week, was it?' said Hermione, as they climbed the steps out of the dungeon and made their way across the Entrance Hall towards lunch. 'And the homework didn't go too badly, either, did it?'**

**When neither Ron nor Harry answered, she pressed on, 'I mean, all right, I didn't expect the top grade, not if he's marking to OWL standard, but a pass is quite encouraging at this stage, wouldn't you say?'**

**Harry made a non-committal noise in his throat.**

"I think Harry would like you to stop talking," said Luna suddenly, making George (who had swapped places with Fred) jump having forgotten she was there, which was odd in itself as he was sitting next to her.

**'Of course, a lot can happen between now and the exam, we've got plenty of time to improve, but the grades we're getting now are a sort of baseline, aren't they? Something we can build on . . .'**

"Oh, why can't either of you ever tell me to stop," groaned Hermione.

"Because we know you won't stop until we just tell you what you want to know," said Ron grinning at her.

"She wants to know something?" asked Dedalus.

"She wants to know the grade we got," replied Harry shrugging as Hermione turned pink and Dedalus nodded, his mouth making a perfect 'o' shape.

**They sat down together at the Gryffindor table.**

**'Obviously, I'd have been thrilled if I'd got an "O" - '**

**'Hermione,' said Ron sharply, 'if you want to know what grades we got, ask.'**

"Told you," said Ron still grinning.

"Yeah, and now she'll try to deny it for like a second and then try to suggest that we have a choice," added Harry also grinning and the girl inbetween them.

"Oh shut up," Hermione muttered in reply.

**'I don't - I didn't mean - well, if you want to tell me - '**

"You two are good," laughed Sirius

**'I got a "P",' said Ron, ladling soup into his bowl. 'Happy?'**

**'Well, that's nothing to be ashamed of,' said Fred, who had just arrived at the table with George and Lee Jordan and was sitting down on Harry's right. 'Nothing wrong with a good healthy "P".'**

**'But,' said Hermione, 'doesn't "P" stand for . . .'**

**'"Poor", yeah,' said Lee Jordan. 'Still, better than "D", isn't it? 'Dreadful"?'**

"There both a fail mark though," frowned Molly.

"It's true though, I'd take a 'P' over a 'D' any day," shrugged Fred as most of the other teenagers nodded.

**Harry felt his face grow warm and faked a small coughing fit over his roll. When he emerged from this he was sorry to find that Hermione was still in full flow about OWL grades.**

**'So top grade's "O" for "Outstanding",' she was saying, 'and then there's "A" - '**

**'No, "E",' George corrected her, '"E" for "Exceeds Expectations". And I've always thought Fred and I should've got "E" in everything, because we exceeded expectations just by turning up for the exams.'**

"I thought that as well," laughed Sirius. "But people just kept asking me if I was serious," he added after a beat.

"You were the one that wanted to trade your 'O's' for an 'E'," said Emmeline as the rest of the room looked at him like he was crazy.

"No, I said I wanted 'E's' for everything except Muggle Studies, I wanted an 'O' for that," argued Sirius.

"Couldn't have you making mummy and daddy proud now could," joked Remus as Sirius grinned.

"Nope, but I only ended up with four 'O's' so they weren't pleased anyway," he replied still grinning. Molly pulled a face but otherwise didn't comment.

**They all laughed except Hermione, who ploughed on, 'So, after "E" it's "A" for "Acceptable", and that's the last pass grade, isn't it?'**

**'Yep,' said Fred, dunking an entire roll in his soup, transferring it to his mouth and swallowing it whole.**

Molly shook her head, Fred obviously hadn't been listening the day she taught him to chew.

**'Then you get "P" for "Poor"- ' Ron raised both his arms in mock celebration –**

The Ron in the room whooped.

**'and "D" for "Dreadful".**

**'And then "T",' George reminded her.**

**'"T"?' asked Hermione, looking appalled. 'Even lower than a "D"? What on earth does "T" stand for?'**

"Troll," chorused the room, which then turned into laugher at the idea of everyone saying the same thing at the same time.

**'"Troll",' said George promptly.**

**Harry laughed again, though he was not sure whether or not George was joking. He imagined trying to conceal from Hermione that he had received 'T's in all his OWLs and immediately resolved to work harder from now on.**

"That's probably why they have that mark, to scare students into working harder," suggested Hermione.

"Or some people are just trolls," smirked Ginny causing Hermione to giggle and Luna to smile.

**'You lot had an inspected lesson yet?' Fred asked them.**

**'No,' said Hermione at once. 'Have you?'**

**'Just now, before lunch,' said George. 'Charms.'**

"Flitwick's a sweetie, there's no way she'd be able to get him for anything," said Emmeline.

"Do you call all of your previous teachers 'sweetie' then?" Sirius asked her, his eyebrows rising as she blushed slightly.

"No, but he was the head of my house, and he so small and..." she trailed off mortified as Sirius burst out laughing.

"What, what's so funny?" asked Hestia from across the room.

"Oh nothing, just Em here confessing to her crush on Flitwick," Sirius replied laughing again as Emmeline blushed harder at some of the looks she was getting from various people around the room.

**'What was it like?' Harry and Hermione asked together.**

**Fred shrugged.**

**'Not that bad. Umbridge just lurked in the corner making notes on a clipboard. You know what Flitwick's like, he treated her like a guest, didn't seem to bother him at all. She didn't say much. Asked Alicia a couple of questions about what the classes are normally like, Alicia told her they were really good, that was it.'**

**'I can't see old Flitwick getting marked down,' said George, 'he usually gets everyone through their exams all right.'**

**'Who've you got this afternoon?' Fred asked Harry.**

**Trelawney - '**

**'A "T" if ever I saw one.'**

**' - and Umbridge herself.'**

"'T' for toad," muttered Harry as Ginny giggled next to him.

**'Well, be a good boy and keep your temper with Umbridge today,' said George. 'Angelina'll do her nut if you miss any more Quidditch practices.'**

"Why do I get the feeling that's not going to happen," scowled Tonks.

**But Harry did not have to wait for Defence Against the Dark Arts to meet Professor Umbridge. He was pulling out his dream diary in a seat at the very back of the shadowy Divination room when Ron elbowed him in the ribs and, looking round, he saw Professor Umbridge emerging through the trapdoor in the floor. The class, which had been talking cheerily, fell silent at once. **

"I didn't know toads could climb," Ginny whispered in Harry's ear.

"Maybe she jumped," he whispered back snickering.

**The abrupt fall in the noise level made Professor Trelawney, who had been wafting about handing out copies of The Dream Oracle, look round.**

**'Good afternoon, Professor Trelawney,' said Professor Umbridge with her wide smile. "You received my note, I trust? Giving the time and date of your inspection?'**

"Well considering she's not asking why the hell you are in her classroom I'd say she got the message," said Bill sarcastically.

**Professor Trelawney nodded curtly and, looking very disgruntled, turned her back on Professor Umbridge and continued to give out books. Still smiling, Professor Umbridge grasped the back of the nearest armchair and pulled it to the front of the class so that it was a few inches behind Professor Trelawney's seat. She then sat down, took her clipboard from her flowery bag and looked up expectantly, waiting for the class to begin.**

**Professor Trelawney pulled her shawls tight about her with slightly trembling hands and surveyed the class through her hugely magnifying lenses.**

"She reminds me of a stick insect," said Harry absently.

"She says they help her to see people's auras and other mystic beings, do your glasses work like that Harry?" asked Luna leaning forward in her seat so her elbows rested on the coffee table in front of her.

"No Luna, they don't," replied Harry smiling at his new friend's bizarreness.

**'We shall be continuing our study of prophetic dreams today,' she said in a brave attempt at her usual mystic tones, though her voice shook slightly. 'Divide into pairs, please, and interpret each other's latest night-time visions with the aid of the Oracle.'**

**She made as though to sweep back to her seat, saw Professor Umbridge sitting right beside it, and immediately veered left towards Parvati and Lavender, who were already deep in discussion about Parvati's most recent dream.**

"I don't blame her," chuckled Remus.

**Harry opened his copy of The Dream Oracle, watching Umbridge covertly. She was already making notes on her clipboard. After a few minutes she got to her feet and began to pace the room in "Trelawney's wake, listening to her conversations with students and posing questions here and there. Harry bent his head hurriedly over his book.**

**Think of a dream, quick,' he told Ron, 'in case the old toad comes our way.'**

**'I did it last time,' Ron protested, 'it's your turn, you tell me one.'**

Molly huffed as most of the room laughed at the pair's attitude towards Divination, honestly if they didn't like the subject they shouldn't have picked it in the first place.

**'Oh, I dunno . . .' said Harry desperately, who could not remember dreaming anything at all over the last few days. 'Let's say I dreamed I was . . . drowning Snape in my cauldron. Yeah, that'll do . . .'**

Snape growled as Harry tried to avoid his gaze, the corners of his mouth twitching as he, and much of the rest of the room, tried not to laugh. Sirius on the other hand had no such qualms with laughing at Snape and promptly burst out with laughter, taking Tonks and the Twins and eventually Ron and Harry down with him.

"Good one Pup," he told Harry inbetween laughs who beamed in response.

**Ron chortled as he opened his Dream Oracle.**

**'OK, we've got to add your age to the date you had the dream, the number of letters in the subject . . . would that be "drowning" or "cauldron" or "Snape"?'**

"Snape," said Luna helpfully.

"Thanks Luna," snorted Ron as Snape glared at the girl, not that Luna noticed.

**'It doesn't matter, pick any of them.' said Harry, chancing a glance behind him. Professor Umbridge was now standing at Professor Trelawney's shoulder making notes while the Divination teacher questioned Neville about his dream diary.**

**'What night did you dream this again?' Ron said, immersed in calculations.**

**'I dunno, last night, whenever you like,' Harry told him, trying to listen to what Umbridge was saying to Professor Trelawney. They were only a table away from him and Ron now. Professor Umbridge was making another note on her clipboard and Professor Trelawney was looking extremely put out.**

"Poor woman," said Hestia.

"Yeah it makes you feel kind of sorry for her actually," agreed Dedalus.

**'Now,' said Umbridge, looking up at Trelawney, 'you've been in this post how long, exactly?'**

**Professor Trelawney scowled at her, arms crossed and shoulders hunched as though wishing to protect herself as much as possible from the indignity of the inspection. After a slight pause in which she seemed to decide that the question was not so offensive that she could reasonably ignore it, she said in a deeply resentful tone, 'Nearly sixteen years.'**

**'Quite a period,' said Professor Umbridge, making a note on her clipboard. 'So it was Professor Dumbledore who appointed you?'**

**That's right,' said Professor Trelawney shortly.**

**Professor Umbridge made another note.**

"She's lucky that she can't get fired on that alone," said Remus.

"Why not?" asked Dedalus.

"Because during my time as Headmaster I have hired most of the current staff memebers," answered Dumbledore.

**'And you are a great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated Seer Cassandra Trelawney?'**

**'Yes,' said Professor Trelawney, holding her head a little higher.**

**Another note on the clipboard.**

**'But I think - correct me if I am mistaken - that you are the first in your family since Cassandra to be possessed of Second Sight?'**

**These things often skip - er - three generations,' said Professor Trelawney.**

**Professor Umbridge's toadlike smile widened.**

**'Of course,' she said sweetly, making yet another note. 'Well, if you could just predict something for me, then?' And she looked up enquiringly, still smiling.**

"What? You can't just ask her to predict something!" cried Hestia.

"It would be like asking a Crumple Horned Snorkack to appear," added Luna nodding.

"So it has no chance in happening then," muttered Hermione to herself.

"Honestly Hermione let it go, she's not doing any harm," Ron whispered back to her having heard what she said.

**Professor Trelawney stiffened as though unable to believe her ears. 'I don't understand you,' she said, clutching convulsively at the shawl around her scrawny neck.**

**'I'd like you to make a prediction for me,' said Professor Umbridge very clearly.**

**Harry and Ron were not the only people now watching and listening sneakily from behind their books. Most of the class were staring transfixed at Professor Trelawney as she drew herself up to her lull height, her beads and bangles clinking.**

**The Inner Eye does not See upon command!' she said in scandalised tones.**

**'I see,' said Professor Umbridge softly, making yet another note on her clipboard.**

**'I - but - but . . . wait!' said Professor Trelawney suddenly, in an attempt at her usual ethereal voice, though the mystical effect was ruined somewhat by the way it was shaking with anger. 'I . . . I think I do see something . . . something that concerns you . . . why, I sense something . . . something dark . . . some grave peril . . .'**

"Fingers crossed then," muttered Harry, wincing as Emmeline poked him in the ribs.

"Don't be spiteful Harry," she said in mock disapproval. "Besides, I don't think grave peril is going to cut it with this woman," she added with a wink as Harry laughed and turned back to his seat, mentally adding her to his tally of people that were going to scold him, even if it was mockingly. So that was what, half the room? Harry smiled slightly to himself as the list of people that had taken it upon themselves to help and take care of him got longer.

**Professor Trelawney pointed a shaking finger at Professor Umbridge who continued to smile blandly at her, eyebrows raised.**

**'I am afraid . . . I am afraid that you are in grave danger!' Professor Trelawney finished dramatically.**

"Awe, see now she's been downgraded from peril to danger," whinged Harry, smirking when he heard Emmeline chuckle behind him.

"What are you talking about Harry, they mean the same thing," asked Hermione looking as confused as the rest of the room.

"Peril just sounds worse than danger," shrugged Harry as Ron rolled his eyes and Sirius leaned over to Emmeline.

"What was that all about?" he asked as Emmeline smiled.

"Oh you know just doing a little bonding," she replied, a smile tugging at the corner of her ruby red lips, leaving Sirius with the desire to do nothing more than kiss her. The only thing that stopped him (aside from the room full of people) was the sound of George's voice as he continued reading.

**There was a pause. Professor Umbridge surveyed Professor Trelawney.**

**'Right,' she said softly, scribbling on her clipboard once more. 'Well, if that's really the best you can do . . .'**

**She turned away, leaving Professor Trelawney standing rooted to the spot, her chest heaving. Harry caught Ron's eye and knew that Ron was thinking exactly the same as he was: they both knew that Professor Trelawney was an old fraud, but on the other hand, they loathed Umbridge so much that they felt very much on Trelawney's side - until she swooped down on them a few seconds later, that is.**

**'Well?' she said, snapping her long fingers under Harry's nose, uncharacteristically brisk. 'Let me see the start you've made on your dream diary, please.'**

**And by the time she had interpreted Harry's dreams at the top of her voice (all of which, even the ones that involved eating porridge, apparently foretold a gruesome and early death), **

"Death by porridge," laughed Ron.

**he was feeling much less sympathetic towards her. All the while, Professor Umbridge stood a few feet away, making notes on that clipboard, and when the bell rang she descended the silver ladder first and was waiting for them all when they reached their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson ten minutes later.**

**She was humming and smiling to herself when they entered the room. Harry and Ron told Hermione, who had been in Arithmancy, exactly what had happened in Divination while they all took out their copies of Defensive Magical Theory, but before Hermione could ask any questions Professor Umbridge had called them all to order and silence fell.**

**'Wands away,' she instructed them all with a smile, and those people who had been hopeful enough to take them out, sadly returned them to their bags. 'As we finished Chapter One last lesson, I would like you all to turn to page nineteen today and commence "Chapter Two, Common Defensive Theories and their Derivation". There will be no need to talk.'**

"Sounds delightful," murmured Fred.

**Still smiling her wide, self-satisfied smile, she sat down at her desk. The class gave an audible sigh as it turned, as one, to page nineteen. Harry wondered dully whether there were enough chapters in the book to keep them reading through all of this year's lessons and was on the point of checking the contents page when he noticed that Hermione had her hand in the air again.**

"Merlin Hermione don't raise your hand, it's only going to end in tears," said Ron shaking his head and rubbing his eyes in frustration.

"It's not like I can stop it from happening Ronald, it's in a book," replied Hermione rolling her eyes at him.

"Yeah but, it's still not going to end well," Ron retorted sounding tired as he glanced next to him at Harry, who was whispering something to Ginny.

**Professor Umbridge had noticed, too, and what was more, she seemed to have worked out a strategy for just such an eventuality. Instead of trying to pretend she had not noticed Hermione she got to her feet and walked around the front row of desks until they were face to face, then she bent down and whispered, so that the rest of the class could not hear, 'What is it this time, Miss Granger?'**

**'I've already read Chapter Two,' said Hermione.**

**'Well then, proceed to Chapter Three.'**

**'I've read that too. I've read the whole book.'**

"I haven't known her for very long, by why doesn't that surprise me," Dedalus whispered to Hestia who smiled.

"Because you know her, even if it hasn't been that long," she answered.

**Professor Umbridge blinked but recovered her poise almost instantly.**

**'Well, then, you should be able to tell me what Slinkhard says about counter-jinxes in Chapter Fifteen.'**

**'He says that counter-jinxes are improperly named,' said Hermione promptly. 'He says "counter-jinx" is just a name people give their jinxes when they want to make them sound more acceptable.'**

**Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows and Harry knew she was impressed, against her will.**

**'But I disagree,' Hermione continued.**

**Professor Umbridge's eyebrows rose a little higher and her gaze became distinctly colder.**

**'You disagree?' she repeated.**

"Of course I do," murmured Hermione.

**'Yes, I do,' said Hermione, who, unlike Umbridge, was not whispering, but speaking in a clear, carrying voice that had by now attracted the attention of the rest of the class. 'Mr Slinkhard doesn't like jinxes, does he? But I think they can be very useful when they're used defensively.'**

"Oh, so our text book was written by a bias author, that's just brilliant!" exclaimed Hermione, crossing her arms over her chest in a huff.

**'Oh, you do, do you?' said Professor Umbridge, forgetting to whisper and straightening up. 'Well, I'm afraid it is Mr Slinkhard's opinion, and not yours, that matters within this classroom, Miss Granger.'**

**'But - ' Hermione began.**

**That is enough,' said Professor Umbridge. She walked back to the front of the class and stood before them, all the jauntiness she had shown at the beginning of the lesson gone. 'Miss Granger, I am going to take five points from Gryffindor house.'**

**There was an outbreak of muttering at this.**

**'What for?' said Harry angrily.**

**'Don't you get involved!' Hermione whispered urgently to him.**

**'For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions,' said Professor Umbridge smoothly. 'I am here to teach you using a Ministry-approved method that does not include inviting students to give their opinions on matters about which they understand very little. **

"Now I may not be a genius but I thought the point of school was to ask questions and give opinions in order to learn," commented George mildly.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," agreed Fred.

**Your previous teachers in this subject may have allowed you more licence, but as none of them - with the possible exception of Professor Quirrell, who did at least appear to have restricted himself to age-appropriate subjects - would have passed a Ministry inspection - '**

**'Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher,' said Harry loudly, 'there was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head.'**

"_Harry,"_ sighed Remus pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry," whispered Harry frowning.

"No you don't need to apologise, it's in the book and therefore out of your control for the moment," responded Remus shaking his head.

"You know how people are always telling you to rise to the occasion and never give in?" asked Sirius, both eyebrows raised, his eyes wide and worried.

"Yeah," admitted Harry hesitantly, not sure what direction Sirius was taking his comment in.

"Well don't listen to them, not in regards to Umbridge anyway, keep your head down and stay away from her," said Sirius.

"I'll try," replied Harry smiling fondly at his godfather.

**This pronouncement was followed by one of the loudest silences Harry had ever heard. Then -**

**'I think another week's detentions would do you some good, Mr Potter,' said Umbridge sleekly.**

"Told you," growled Ron as Hermione gritted her teeth but still nodded in response.

Dumbledore frowned deeply as he heard Sirius swear and Molly hiss at him, but that was all background noise as he looked at Harry where he was situated across the room. He was careful not to look directly into the boys eyes but even then he could still see some of the contempt burning in Harry's eyes. It made Dumbledore wonder if it was Voldemort's influence or purely his own emotion, but then Sirius squeezed his shoulder and the fire in his eyes faded. _Probably the latter then_ thought Dumbledore, he was after all fairly certain that Voldemort did not know of the connection between himself and Harry and as much as he regretted it, distancing himself from Harry was the best he could do to keep the boy safe.

**The cut on the back of Harry's hand had barely healed and, by the following morning, it was bleeding again. He did not complain during the evening's detention; he was determined not to give Umbridge the satisfaction; over and over again he wrote I must not tell lies and not a sound escaped his lips, though the cut deepened with every letter.**

Tonks gripped Remus's hand as she felt the vibrations coming from his chest, his growl too low to be heard. Emmeline on the other hand had to practically place herself in Sirius's lap in order to stop him from getting up and going after Umbridge.

**The very worst part of this second weeks' worth of detentions was, just as George had predicted, Angelina's reaction. She cornered him just as he arrived at the Gryffindor table for breakfast on Tuesday and shouted so loudly that Professor McGonagall came sweeping down upon the pair of them from the staff table.**

**'Miss Johnson, how dare you make such a racket in the Great Hall! Five points from Gryffindor!'**

**'But Professor - he's gone and landed himself in detention again - '**

**'What's this, Potter?' said Professor McGonagall sharply, rounding on Harry. 'Detention? From whom?'**

**'From Professor Umbridge,' muttered Harry, not meeting Professor McGonagall's beady, square-framed eyes.**

**'Are you telling me,' she said, lowering her voice so that the group of curious Ravenclaws behind them could not hear, 'that after the warning I gave you last Monday you lost your temper in Professor Umbridge's class again?'**

**'Yes,' Harry muttered, speaking to the floor.**

**'Potter, you must get a grip on yourself! You are heading for serious trouble! Another five points from Gryffindor!'**

"What!" cried Harry indignantly.

"That's completely unfair!" added Ron as the Twins and Ginny nodded their agreement.

"She only wants to help you, and she must be serious about it if she's taking points from her own house," said Luna looking between the two boys.

"That doesn't make it necessary though Luna," replied Bill as the girl shrugged before turning back to the book.

**'But - what - '? Professor, no!' Harry said, furious at this injustice, 'I'm already being punished by her, why do you have to take points as well?'**

**'Because detentions do not appear to have any effect on you whatsoever!' said Professor McGonagall tartly. 'No, not another word of complaint, Potter! And as for you, Miss Johnson, you will confine your shouting matches to the Quidditch pitch in future or risk losing the team captaincy!'**

**Professor McGonagall strode back towards the staff table. Angelina gave Harry a look of deepest disgust and stalked away, upon which he flung himself on to the bench beside Ron, fuming.**

**'She's taken points off Gryffindor because I'm having my hand sliced open every night! How is that fair, how?'**

"It's fair because she doesn't know about it, because you haven't told her," said Hermione glaring back at her friend as he glared at her.

**'I know, mate,' said Ron sympathetically, tipping bacon on to Harry's plate, 'she's bang out of order.'**

"Good job Ron," laughed Bill.

"What, that's how you handle Harry when he's in a mood, you agree with everything he says and in exchange he doesn't bite your head off," Ron reasoned, grinning sheepishly as Harry hit him lightly with a pillow in annoyance.

"Lighten up mate," laughed Ron. "You know that's it works," he added watching the corner of Harry's lips twitch.

"Shut up," Harry muttered hitting his friend with the pillow again.

**Hermione, however, merely rustled the pages of her Daily Prophet and said nothing.**

**'You think McGonagall was right, do you?' said Harry angrily to the picture of Cornelius Fudge obscuring Hermione's face.**

"She shouldn't have taken points but you know she's right!" cried Hermione answering the book Harry's question. Harry glared at her but didn't say anything, he was too busy trying to calm himself down.

**'I wish she hadn't taken points from you, but I think she's right to warn you not to lose your temper with Umbridge,' said Hermione's voice, while Fudge gesticulated forcefully from the front page, clearly giving some kind of speech.**

"And that's how you get him not speaking to you," supplied Ron as the group witnessed Harry and Hermione glaring at each other again.

"Honestly, you'd think they were children," said Molly rolling her eyes.

"Molly dear, they are children," Arthur whispered back to her while smirking.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," retorted Molly shaking her head in fond exasperation at her husband's antics.

**Harry did not speak to Hermione all through Charms, but when they entered Transfiguration he forgot about being cross with her. Professor Umbridge and her clipboard were sitting in a corner and the sight of her drove the memory of breakfast right out of his head.**

"Excellent," grinned Ron as Fred snorted and read the exact same thing in the next line.

**'Excellent,' whispered Ron, as they sat down in their usual seats. 'Let's see Umbridge get what she deserves.'**

"This will be good," Sirius grinned rubbing his hands together, causing Emmeline, Tonks and Remus to laugh at the maniac look on his face.

**Professor McGonagall marched into the room without giving the slightest indication that she knew Professor Umbridge was there.**

**That will do,' she said and silence fell immediately. 'Mr Finnigan, kindly come here and hand back the homework - Miss Brown, please take this box of mice - don't be silly, girl, they won't hurt you - and hand one to each student - '**

**'Hem, hem,' said Professor Umbridge, employing the same silly little cough she had used to interrupt Dumbledore on the first night of term. Professor McGonagall ignored her. **

There was an assortment of smirks, giggles and snickers across the room.

**Seamus handed back Harry's essay; Harry took it without looking at him and saw, to his relief, that he had managed an 'A'.**

"See Harry, you have a fair teacher, you get a good grade," said Sirius leaning over Emmeline's legs (which just happened to be innocently resting in his lap. She had gotten a cramp from sitting in the same position for too long…really…) to whisper in Harry's ear and ruffle his hair at the same time.

"Thanks Sirius," replied Harry half sincerely and half sarcastically as he tried to flatten his hair again causing Sirius to laugh quietly.

**'Right then, everyone, listen closely - Dean Thomas, if you do that to the mouse again I shall put you in detention - most of you have now successfully Vanished your snails and even those who were left with a certain amount of shell have got the gist of the spell. Today, we shall be - '**

**'Hem, hem,' said Professor Umbridge.**

**'Yes?' said Professor McGonagall, turning round, her eyebrows so close together they seemed to form one long, severe line.**

**'I was just wondering, Professor, whether you received my note telling you of the date and time of your inspec - '**

**'Obviously I received it, or I would have asked you what you are doing in my classroom,' said Professor McGonagall, turning her back firmly on Professor Umbridge. **

There was laughter scattered across the room and George had to put the book down briefly to catch his breath without fear of losing his page.

**Many of the students exchanged looks of glee. 'As I was saying: today, we shall be practising the altogether more difficult Vanishment of mice. Now, the Vanishing Spell - '**

**'Hem, hem.'**

**'I wonder,' said Professor McGonagall in cold fury, turning on Professor Umbridge, 'how you expect to gain an idea of my usual teaching methods if you continue to interrupt me? You see, I do not generally permit people to talk when I am talking.'**

"Oh, Minnie you are the best," gasped Sirius in between laughs.

"Now who's the one with the crush?" Emmeline purred into Sirius's ear, making him jump as her warm breath tickled his skin.

"Minnie's my one and only, you should know that by now Love," Sirius replied clutching his heart and winking at her as Emmeline laughed and rested her head back against his shoulder, enjoying the warmth of his body.

**Professor Umbridge looked as though she had just been slapped in the face. She did not speak, but straightened the parchment on her clipboard and began scribbling furiously.**

"So that's Minnie, Hagrid and Trelawney on her list of 'People-To-Get-Rid-Of'" said Remus absently to himself.

"I didn't know you called McGonagall Minnie," said Tonks leaning towards Remus.

"I am a Marauder," he reminded her winking.

"When then, you'll just have to teach me some tricks," she replied with her own winking then giggling as she watched him turn pink.

**Looking supremely unconcerned, Professor McGonagall addressed the class once more.**

**'As I was saying: the Vanishing Spell becomes more difficult with the complexity of the animal to be Vanished. The snail, as an invertebrate, does not present much of a challenge; the mouse, as a mammal, offers a much greater one. This is not, therefore, magic you can accomplish with your mind on your dinner. So - you know the incantation, let me see what you can do . . .'**

**'How she can lecture me about not losing my temper with Umbridge!' Harry muttered to Ron under his breath, but he was grinning - his anger with Professor McGonagall had quite evaporated.**

"Because she's a teacher," Ginny told Harry sternly, her lips twisting up into a smile and drawing Harry's attention to them. He suddenly had the strangest idea about kissing them but shook off the idea and instead poked his tongue out.

"It's still hypocritical," he added defending his book self, though like his book self he was grinning.

"Yes, but it's McGonagall's classroom and she can get away with it, you can't" replied Ginny smirking effectively making Harry huff in mock annoyance and look away from her. Though this of course had nothing to do with her lips nor his sudden strange urge to kiss her, _she's Ron's little sister,_ he thought to himself, _besides he liked Cho didn't he?_

**Professor Umbridge did not follow Professor McGonagall around the class as she had followed Professor Trelawney; perhaps she realised Professor McGonagall would not permit it. She did, however, take many more notes while sitting in her corner, and when Professor McGonagall finally told them all to pack away, she rose with a grim expression on her face.**

**'Well, it's a start,' said Ron, holding up a long wriggling mouse-tail and dropping it back into the box Lavender was passing around.**

"That's actually pretty good for the first lesson," commented Bill proudly as Ron blushed.

**As they filed out of the classroom, Harry saw Professor Umbndge approach the teacher's desk; he nudged Ron, who nudged Hermione in turn, and the three of them deliberately fell back to eavesdrop.**

Molly shook her head in exasperation as Remus and Sirius reminisced on their school days, when it would have been them eavesdropping, whispering quietly to each other followed by quite a few chuckles.

**'How long have you been teaching at Hogwarts? Professor Umbridge asked.**

**Thirty-nine years this December,' said Professor McGonagall brusquely, snapping her bag shut.**

**Professor Umbridge made a note.**

**'Very well,' she said, 'you will receive the results of your inspection in ten days' time.**

**'I can hardly wait,' said Professor McGonagall, in a coldly indifferent voice, and she strode off towards the door. 'Hurry up, you three,' she added, sweeping Harry, Ron and Hermione before her.**

**Harry could not help giving her a faint smile and could have sworn he received one in return.**

The Harry in the room smiled as well.

**He had thought that the next time he would see Umbridge would be in his detention that evening, but he was wrong. **

"She's stalking me!" cried Harry.

"As the Muggles phrase it these days…duh Potter, she's trying to get you in as many detentions as possible," said Snape rolling his eyes, ignoring the glares he was getting from around the room, it wasn't his fault Potter was too thick to get the message.

**When they walked down the lawns towards the Forest for Care of Magical Creatures, they found her and her clipboard waiting for them beside Professor Grubbly-Plank.**

**'You do not usually take this class, is that correct?' Harry heard her ask as they arrived at the trestle table where the group of captive Bowtruckles were scrambling around for woodlice like so many living twigs.**

**'Quite correct,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank, hands behind her back and bouncing on the balls of her feet. 'I am a substitute teacher standing in for Professor Hagrid.'**

**Harry exchanged uneasy looks with Ron and Hermione. Malfoy was whispering with Crabbe and Goyle; he would surely love this opportunity to tell tales on Hagrid to a member of the Ministry.**

"Makes him feel powerful I suppose," commented Hestia.

"Just wait till he gets his first job, his future employer isn't going to tolerate that attitude," added Dedalus.

"Exactly he'll have to shape up and become a decent person or no one is going to hire him," agreed Molly as the others nodded with her assumption.

**'Hmm,' said Professor Umbridge, dropping her voice, though Harry could still hear her quite clearly. 'I wonder - the Headmaster seems strangely reluctant to give me any information on the matter - can you tell me what is causing Professor Hagrid's very extended leave of absence?'**

**Harry saw Malfoy look up eagerly and watch Umbridge and Grubbly-Plank closely.**

**' 'Fraid I can't,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank breezily. 'Don't know anything more about it than you do. Got an owl from Dumbledore, would I like a couple of weeks' teaching, work. I accepted. That's as much as I know. Well . . . shall I get started then?'**

"Yes cause Dumbledore is really going to go," said Ginny clearing her throat and in an almost perfect imitation of Dumbledore's voice continued, "Professor Grubbly-Plank, Hagrid has gone off on a top secret mission to speak with the giants, he's a bit behind schedule though and I need you to cover his class until he returns," she finished leaving most of the room in stiches and Dumbledore chuckling along with them. Snape on the other hand had his I'm-surrounded-by-idiots face on as he, for what must have been the millionth time, rolled his eyes.

**'Yes, please do,' said Professor Umbridge, scribbling on her clipboard.**

**Umbridge took a different tack in this class and wandered amongst the students, questioning them on magical creatures. Most people were able to answer well and Harry's spirits lifted somewhat; at least the class was not letting Hagrid down.**

**'Overall,' said Professor Umbridge, returning to Professor Grubbly-Plank's side after a lengthy interrogation of Dean Thomas, 'how do you, as a temporary member of staff- an objective outsider, I suppose you might say - how do you find Hogwarts? Do you feel you receive enough support from the school management?'**

**'Oh, yes, Dumbledore's excellent,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank heartily. 'Yes, I'm very happy with the way things are run, very happy indeed.'**

"She won't like that," laughed Tonks.

"Somehow I don't think she's going to like much of what the staff members have to say about Dumbledore," responded Emmeline.

**Looking politely incredulous, Umbridge made a tiny note on her clipboard and went on, 'And what are you planning to cover with this class this year - assuming, of course, that Professor Hagrid does not return?'**

**'Oh, I'll take them through the creatures that most often come up in OWL,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank. 'Not much left to do - they've studied unicorns and Nifflers, I thought we'd cover Porlocks and Kneazles, make sure they can recognise Crups and Knarls, you know . . .'**

"No she doesn't know, she's not that smart," quipped Fred earning a chuckle from George as he kept reading.

**'Well, you seem to know what you're doing, at any rate,' said Professor Umbridge, making a very obvious tick on her clipboard. Harry did not like the emphasis she put on 'you' and liked it even less when she put her next question to Goyle. 'Now, I hear there have been injuries in this class?'**

**Goyle gave a stupid grin. Malfoy hastened to answer the question.**

**That was me,' he said. 'I was slashed by a Hippogriff.'**

**'A Hippogriff?' said Professor Umbridge, now scribbling frantically.**

**'Only because he was too stupid to listen to what Hagrid told him to do,' said Harry angrily.**

Only half the room groaned this time, the other half had been expecting it.

**Both Ron and Hermione groaned. Professor Umbridge turned her head slowly in Harry's direction.**

**'Another night's detention, I think,' she said softly. **

"That is it," said Hermione loudly as Harry winced. "You will not say a word to Umbridge, if it the last thing I do!" she said shrilly, punctuating her sentence by hitting him rather hard on the knee with a cushion.

"Sorry Hermione," responded Harry sheepishly completely forgetting that he was meant to be cross with her.

**'Well, thank you very much, Professor Grubbly-Plank, I think that's all I need here. You will be receiving the results of your inspection within ten days.'**

**'Jolly good,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and Professor Umbridge set off back across the lawn to the castle.**

**It was nearly midnight when Harry left Umbridge's office that night, his hand now bleeding so severely that it was staining the scarf he had wrapped around it. He expected the common room to be empty when he returned, but Ron and Hermione had sat up waiting for him. He was pleased to see them, especially as Hermione was disposed to be sympathetic rather than critical.**

"Oh so I'm forgiven because I'm not going to yell at you," growled Hermione sarcastically.

"Well, yeah," Harry laughed in replied.

**'Here,' she said anxiously, pushing a small bowl of yellow liquid towards him, 'soak your hand in that, it's a solution of strained and pickled Murtlap tentacles, it should help.'**

**Harry placed his bleeding, aching hand into the bowl and experienced a wonderful feeling of relief. Crookshanks curled around his legs, purring loudly, then leapt into his lap and settled down.**

"Thanks Hermione," smiled Harry while Hermione did the same back.

**Thanks,' he said gratefully, scratching behind Crookshanks's ears with his left hand.**

**'I still reckon you should complain about this,' said Ron in a low voice.**

**'No,' said Harry flatly.**

**'McGonagall would go nuts if she knew - '**

"Everyone would go nuts if they knew," said Arthur, his eyes narrowed at the book in his son's hands.

**'Yeah, she probably would,' said Harry dully. 'And how long do you reckon it'd take Umbridge to pass another decree saying anyone who complains about the High Inquisitor gets sacked immediately?'**

"A couple of hours maybe," admitted Ron.

**Ron opened his mouth to retort but nothing came out and, after a moment, he closed it again, defeated.**

**'She's an awful woman,' said Hermione in a small voice. 'Awful. You know, I was just saying to Ron when you came in . . . we've got to do something about her.'**

**'I suggested poison,' said Ron grimly.**

"Nah, too pleasant," dismissed Emmeline causing Harry to laugh as he thought about what she had told him earlier.

"Merlin Em, you're really getting into this," said Sirius looking as her with something akin to awe.

"Don't tell me you're not enjoying it," she said once again purring in his ear. Sirius shuddered (ignoring the quiet laughter coming from Remus) and whispered seductively back,

"It's kind of sexy actually, I like it," he admitted, giving her a sly smile as she blushed.

**'No . . . I mean, something about what a dreadful teacher she is, and how we're not going to learn any Defence from her at all,' said Hermione.**

**'Well, what can we do about that?' said Ron, yawning. "S too late, isn't it? She's got the job, she's here to stay. Fudge'll make sure of that.'**

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Dumbledore, his eyes flickering to Remus before returning to the book, his plan was almost fully formed and he just about knew exactly how Fudge would react.

**'Well,' said Hermione tentatively. 'You know, I was thinking today . . .' she shot a slightly nervous look at Harry and then plunged on, 'I was thinking that - maybe the time's come when we should just - just do it ourselves.'**

"Do what ourselves?" asked Harry and Ron, both of who looked very confused.

**'Do what ourselves?' said Harry suspiciously, still floating his hand in the essence of Murtlap tentacles.**

**'Well - learn Defence Against the Dark Arts ourselves, said Hermione.**

**'Come off it,' groaned Ron. 'You want us to do extra work? D'you realise Harry and I are behind on homework again and it's only the second week?'**

"That's absurd," added Ron agreeing with his future self as the adults exchanged worried looks as to where this was going.

**'But this is much more important than homework!' said Hermione.**

**Harry and Ron goggled at her.**

The same could be said for the Ron and Harry in the room.

**'I didn't think there was anything in the universe more important than homework!' said Ron.**

**'Don't be silly, of course there is,' said Hermione, and Harry saw, with an ominous feeling, that her face was suddenly alight with the kind of fervour that SPEW usually inspired in her. **

Harry and Ron exchanged looks as their own Hermione had the same look on her face.

**'It's about preparing ourselves, like Harry said in Umbridge's first lesson, for what's waiting for us out there. It's about making sure we really can defend ourselves. If we don't learn anything for a whole year - '**

"Yeah but we can't do it on our own, it wouldn't work," countered Ron.

**'We can't do much by ourselves,' said Ron in a defeated voice. 'I mean, all right, we can go and look jinxes up in the library and try and practise them, I suppose - '**

**'No, I agree, we've gone past the stage where we can just learn things out of books,' said Hermione. 'We need a teacher, a proper one, who can show us how to use the spells and correct us if we're going wrong.'**

**'If you're talking about Lupin . . .' Harry began.**

"No, I don't think I am," Hermione said giving Harry a strange sort of look, one that said he wasn't going to like what she was thinking.

**'No, no, I'm not talking about Lupin,' said Hermione. 'He's too busy with the Order and, anyway, the most we could see him is during Hogsmeade weekends and that's not nearly often enough.'**

**'Who, then?' said Harry, frowning at her.**

**Hermione heaved a very deep sigh.**

**'Isn't it obvious?' she said. 'I'm talking about you, Harry.'**

Molly (and a few of the others) gasped, she did not like where this was going. Harry wasn't a proper teacher, not to mention he already had a lot on his plate to deal with. Harry on the other hand was sitting in silence, quite sure Hermione was joking. He turned to look at her only to regret doing so when he saw the determined look that was now adorning her face.

**There was a moment's silence. A light night breeze rattled the windowpanes behind Ron, and the fire guttered.**

**'About me what?' said Harry.**

**'I'm talking about you teaching us Defence Against the Dark Arts.'**

**Harry stared at her. Then he turned to Ron, ready to exchange the exasperated looks they sometimes shared when Hermione elaborated on far-fetched schemes like SPEW. To Harry's consternation, however, Ron did not look exasperated.**

Ron bit his lip before looking between his two friends and nodding his agreement, "It makes sense Harry," he told the boy next to him shrugging slightly.

**He was frowning slightly, apparently thinking. Then he said, 'That's an idea.'**

**'What's an idea?' said Harry.**

**'You,' said Ron. Teaching us to do it.'**

**'But . . .'**

**Harry was grinning now, sure the pair of them were pulling his leg.**

"Nope, you're serious," he said eyeing his best friends. "Don't say a word," he added whacking Sirius, who laughed in response, on the knee just as he was opening his mouth to comment.

**'But I'm not a teacher, I can't - '**

**'Harry, you're the best in the year at Defence Against the Dark Arts,' said Hermione.**

**'Me?' said Harry now grinning more broadly than ever. 'No I'm not, you've beaten me in every test - '**

"No, the only year we both sat the test and had a proper teacher, you beat me, I didn't get past the boggart, remember?" said Hermione as Sirius and Remus beamed proudly at Harry.

**'Actually I haven't,' said Hermione coolly. 'You beat me in our third year - the only year we both sat the test and had a teacher who actually knew the subject. But I'm not talking about test results, Harry. Think what you've done!'**

**'How d'you mean?'**

**'You know what, I'm not sure I want someone this stupid teaching me,' Ron said to Hermione, smirking slightly. He turned to Harry.**

"Oh, wait, wait, wait, you know how before Harry was yelling about all the stuff he has done?" asked Ron as Harry groaned.

"Yeah," said Ginny while Luna shook her head, so Ron took a minute to update her on that particular chapter.

"Well this will be what happens when you try to _tell_ him all of the things he's done," finished Ron as Harry groaned again and Hermione laughed.

**'Let's think,' he said, pulling a face like Goyle concentrating.**

"Hey," cried Ron momentarily distracted from the book to whack Harry on the back of the head.

"Ow, I didn't actually say you looked like him, well not exactly anyway," said Harry defending himself as Ron huffed and the Twins laughed.

**'Uh . . . first year - you saved the Philosopher's Stone from You-Know-Who.'**

**'But that was luck,' said Harry, 'it wasn't skill - '**

**'Second year,' Ron interrupted, 'you killed the Basilisk and destroyed Riddle.'**

**'Yeah, but if Fawkes hadn't turned up, I - '**

**Third year,' said Ron, louder still, 'you fought off about a hundred Dementors at once - '**

**'You know that was a fluke, if the Time-Turner hadn't - '**

**'Last year,' Ron said, almost shouting now, 'you fought off You-know-Who again - '**

"You are way too modest," said Tonks as Harry buried his face in one of the cushions that had made it onto the coffee table.

**'Listen to me!' said Harry, almost angrily, because Ron and Hermione were both smirking now. 'Just listen to me, all right? It sounds great when you say it like that, but all that stuff was luck - I didn't know what I was doing half the time, I didn't plan any of it, I just did whatever I could think of, and I nearly always had help - '**

"And that's exactly what you- we need to do in the real world," commented Ron quietly.

**Ron and Hermione were still smirking and Harry felt his temper rise; he wasn't even sure why he was feeling so angry.**

Harry muttered something but it was muffled by the cushion so no one understood him anyway.

**'Don't sit there grinning like you know better than I do, I was there, wasn't I?' he said heatedly. 'I know what went on, all right? And I didn't get through any of that because I was brilliant at Defence Against the Dark Arts, I got through it all because - because help came at the right time, or because I guessed right - but I just blundered through it all, I didn't have a clue what I was doing - 'STOP LAUGHING!'**

Harry flinched as George yelled the last part.

**The bowl of Murtlap essence fell to the floor and smashed. He became aware that he was on his feet, though he couldn't remember standing up. Crookshanks streaked away under a sofa. Ron and Hermione's smiles had vanished.**

**'You don't know what it's like! You - neither of you - you've never had to face him, have you? You think it's just memorising a bunch of spells and throwing them at him, like you're in class or something? The whole time you're sure you know there's nothing between you and dying except your own - your own brain or guts or whatever - 'like you can think straight when you know you're about a nanosecond from being murdered, or tortured, or watching your friends die - 'they've never taught us that in their classes, what it's like to deal with things like that - and you two sit there acting like I'm a clever little boy to be standing here, alive, like Diggory was stupid, like he messed up - you just don't get it, that could just as easily have been me, it would have been if Voldemort hadn't needed me -'**

Harry still had his face buried in the cushion but both Hermione and Ron could see that his neck and ears were red, whether from anger or embarrassment they didn't know. So instead of saying anything that could potentially be the wrong thing, they each leant over and squeeze his hand and shoulder trying to give him some comfort. Harry looked up after and minute, his eyes were slightly red but he smiled at the two and lent back against Sirius's legs, who automatically smoothed his hair and patted him on the shoulder.

**'We weren't saying anything like that, mate,' said Ron, looking aghast. 'We weren't having a go at Diggory, we didn't - you've got the wrong end of the - '**

**He looked helplessly at Hermione, whose face was stricken.**

**'Harry,' she said timidly, 'don't you see? This . . . this is exactly why we need you . . . we need to know what it's r-really like . . . facing him . . . facing V-Voldemort.'**

Harry looked over to his friend and beamed at her proudly. Hermione for her part had noticed that everyone who had already read a chapter had said the name at least once and nobody had been flinching. Maybe this had to do with the fact that they were reading a book and therefore people could distance themselves from it. Or maybe it was because by reading about Harry and seeing Voldemort through his eyes the dark wizard didn't seem that scary anymore, especially since they all knew that Harry had beat him in the end.

**It was the first time she had ever said Voldemort's name and it was this, more than anything else, that calmed Harry. Still breathing hard, he sank back into his chair, becoming aware as he did so that his hand was throbbing horribly again. He wished he had not smashed the bowl of Murtlap essence**

**'Well . . . think about it,' said Hermione quietly. 'Please?'**

Harry nodded but didn't say anything in reply.

**Harry could not think of anything to say. He was feeling ashamed of his outburst already. He nodded, hardly aware of what he was agreeing to. Hermione stood up.**

**'Well, I'm off to bed,' she said, in a voice that was clearly as natural as she could make it. 'Erm…night.'**

**Ron had got to his feet, too.**

**'Coming?' he said awkwardly to Harry.**

**'Yeah,' said Harry. 'In . . . in a minute. I'll just clear this up.'**

**He indicated the smashed bowl on the floor. Ron nodded and left.**

**'Reparo,' Harry muttered, pointing his wand at the broken pieces of china. They flew back together, good as new, but there was no returning the Murtlap essence to the bowl.**

**He was suddenly so tired he was tempted to sink back into his armchair and sleep there, but instead he forced himself to his feet and followed Ron upstairs. His restless night was punctuated once more by dreams of long corridors and locked doors and he awoke next day with his scar prickling again.**

"Long corridors and locked doors, what's the bet that that is going to be important later," said Ginny as George finished the chapter. The Order members had to stop themselves from exchanging looks as to stop the teenagers from getting suspicious.

"Who wants to read?" asked George holding up the book.

"I will," called Hestia reaching across the table for the book. She picked it up and flicked through the pages before coming to the next chapter. Clearing her throat she read, "**In the Hog's Head**".


	22. In the Hog's Head

**Okay so first things first I got an anonymous review asking if I could stop making Harry weak by having him cry, and since I cant reply privately I put my answer here (I hope I don't come off as mean): So in answer to your question, Harry crying does not make him weak and in fact they only thing he's cried about so far is what happened in the graveyard and to Cedric (both of which happen to be traumatic experiences that Harry didn't really have to opportunity to deal with in the book). However I don't agree with fics that make Harry cry over everything so no that won't be happening. I put a lot of research into this fic and take the books, movies and Pottermore into account while I'm writing, so while Harry doesn't specifically cry in the books he does in the movie (particularly when Sirius dies). In regards to your other question, no Ginny won't be coming into this story (if I ever get it finished fingers crossed) but I'm planning a sort of what-happens-next fic to follow on and she'll definitely be in that :) Sorry but I just don't have a legitimate reason to bring her back, people have requested Neville in the past as well but I can't say that I can see a way to bring him in short of kidnapping him, so sorry. But other than that I'm glad you like the story :)**

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you recognise or is in bold besides the above is the work of JKRowling. Please review :)**

* * *

"**In the Hog's Head**" read Hestia.

"Isn't that that dodgy looking pub in Hogsmead?" asked Fred as the Order members nodded. _At least whatever the Golden Trio was up to, we'll know about it_ they thought with a smile while some tried to conceal sniggers.

**Hermione made no mention of Harry giving Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons for two whole weeks after her original suggestion. Harry's detentions with Umbridge were finally over (he doubted whether the words now etched into the back of his hand would ever fade entirely); **

Sirius growled quietly to himself at the comment, he felt Emmeline squeeze his hand but for once it did little to quell his temper. Sirius (as well as the rest of the room) knew for a fact that those words would never fade from the back of Harry's hand, they had after all, all seen the message etched on Harry's hand some four years later.

**Ron had had four more Quidditch practices and not been shouted at during the last two; and all three of them had managed to Vanish their mice in Transfiguration (Hermione had actually progressed to Vanishing kittens), before the subject was broached again, on a wild, blustery evening at the end of September, when the three of them were sitting in the library, looking up potion ingredients for Snape.**

"That sounds fun," grumbled Ron sarcastically to Harry and Hermione, the latter of which rolled her eyes as Harry laughed and nodded in agreement.

**'I was wondering,' Hermione said suddenly, 'whether you'd thought any more about Defence Against the Dark Arts, Harry.'**

**'Course I have,' said Harry grumpily, 'can't forget it, can we, with that hag teaching us - '**

"That's probably not what I meant," said Hermione rolling her eyes as Harry shrugged grinning.

**'I meant the idea Ron and I had - ' Ron cast her an alarmed, threatening kind of look. **

"Oi," yelped Ron sending Hermione the same sort of look.

"Honestly, what is wrong with Hermione saying that it was your idea as well?" asked Hestia confused.

"Because Harry already doesn't like the idea and I'd rather not have him shouting at me for something that wasn't me," replied Ron smiling slightly as Harry smacked him with a pillow again.

"But you think it's a good idea," Dedalus added, keen to learn more about how the trio functioned as a group.

"Of course it's a good idea, I'm just not committing until I know Harry's not going to go bananas on me," said Ron shrugging as Harry gave him an incredulous look.

"Bananas? Really, bananas, thanks Ron," Harry said, his brows almost disappearing under his fringe, cause Ron to laugh in response.

**She frowned at him, '- Oh, all right, the idea I had, then - about you teaching us.'**

**Harry did not answer at once. He pretended to be perusing a page of Asiatic Anti-Venoms, because he did not want to say what was in his mind.**

"I'll take that as a yes then," laughed Bill. Harry sighed he had to admit that it was a good idea and he had already caught himself thinking about which spells would be the best to teach, and he had only heard about the idea ten minutes ago.

**He had given the matter a great deal of thought over the past fortnight. Sometimes it seemed an insane idea, just as it had on the night Hermione had proposed it, but at others, he had found himself thinking about the spells that had served him best in his various encounters with Dark creatures and Death Eaters - found himself, in fact, subconsciously planning lessons . . .**

"I'm a goner," groaned Harry as both Hermione and Ron beamed at him.

**'Well,' he said slowly, when he could no longer pretend to find Asiatic Anti-Venoms interesting, 'yeah, I - I've thought about it a bit.'**

**'And?' said Hermione eagerly.**

**'I dunno,' said Harry, playing for time. He looked up at Ron.**

Ron beamed again it was always nice to know that Harry still wanted his advice on the subject, even if he didn't come out and say it, it was still a nice feeling.

**'I thought it was a good idea from the start,' said Ron, who seemed keener to join in this conversation now that he was sure Harry was not going to start shouting again.**

Some of those around the room were again hit with the level of friendship that the trio shared. For Ron to be able to know exactly when Harry need a bit of encouragement just from a single look, well it was incredible to witness.

**Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair.**

**'You did listen to what I said about a load of it being luck, didn't you?'**

"Yes Harry," the other two-thirds of the trio chorused, slightly more excited now that Harry seemed to be coming around to the idea.

**'Yes, Harry,' said Hermione gently, 'but all the same, there's no point pretending that you're not good at Defence Against the Dark Arts, because you are. You were the only person last year who could throw off the Imperius Curse completely, you can produce a Patronus, you can do all sorts of stuff that full-grown wizards can't, Viktor always said - '**

Ginny groaned at the mention of the foreign Qudditch player, Hermione had told her all about Ron's attitude towards him as well as the incident at the Yule Ball (not that it was exactly a secret, nearly all of Hogwarts knew about it).

"What did Vicky say?" asked Ron sarcastically, ignoring the look Hermione was giving him.

**Ron looked round at her so fast he appeared to crick his neck. Rubbing it, he said, 'Yeah? What did Vicky say?'**

**'Ho ho,' said Hermione in a bored voice. 'He said Harry knew how to do stuff even he didn't, and he was in the final year at Durmstrang.'**

"In Harry's defence he's had to deal with a homicidal maniac bent on killing him, all Viktor Krum has had to deal with is staying on his broom stick," muttered Tonks.

"You have such an eloquent way of saying things, don't you Nymphadora,"said Remus as he watched the blood run back into Sirius's face at the end of her sentence.

"Don't call me Nymphadora!" Tonks growled, her hair turning red as Remus merely chuckled in reply.

**Ron was looking at Hermione suspiciously.**

Molly looked up as she heard Harry and Ginny groan loudly together as Hermione glared at Ron and Ron glared back, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. _Honestly what is wrong with him_, _a blind man could see that the pair liked each other. It was only a matter of time before one of them gave in, _Molly thought to herself, shaking her head.

**'You're not still in contact with him, are you?'**

**'So what if I am?' said Hermione coolly, though her face was a little pink. 'I can have a pen-pal if I - '**

"Yeah, cause that's all he wanted," muttered Ron so only Harry could hear him, who in turn rolled his eyes at the comment.

**'He didn't only want to be your pen-pal,' said Ron accusingly.**

**Hermione shook her head exasperatedly and, ignoring Ron, who was continuing to watch her, said to Harry, 'Well, what do you think? Will you teach us?'**

**'Just you and Ron, yeah?'**

"Well…" started Hermione when Ginny cut her off.

"What about the rest of us?" she asked the dark hair boy next to her.

"Well besides you guys, the rest of the wizarding world thinks I'm a nutter remember," snapped Harry.

"Not everybody thinks that Harry," she replied quietly turning back to the book and missing the guilty look on Harry's face.

**'Well,' said Hermione, looking a mite anxious again. 'Well . . . now, don't fly off the handle again, Harry, please . . . but I really think you ought to teach anyone who wants to learn. I mean, we're talking about defending ourselves against V-Voldemort. Oh, don't be pathetic, Ron. It doesn't seem fair if we don't offer the chance to other people.'**

"You're serious aren't you," said Harry pleading with Hermione for it not to be true.

"No, he is," she said coolly pointing at Sirius who blinked and then laughed at the use of his joke. Harry on the other hand once again banged his head on the table, which must have been a bit harder than he intended because this action was then followed by an 'ow' and several snickers from the occupants of the room.

**Harry considered this for a moment, then said, 'Yeah, but I doubt anyone except you two would want to be taught by me. I'm a nutter, remember?'**

"See even future me agrees," stated Harry.

"That doesn't make it true," replied Luna before anyone else could think of something to say.

"Thanks Luna," replied Harry smiling slightly.

**'Well, I think you might be surprised how many people would be interested in hearing what you've got to say,' said Hermione seriously. 'Look,' she leaned towards him - Ron, who was still watching her with a frown on his face, **

"What are you frowning at?" asked Fred looking at his little brother.

"I don't know, this hasn't happened yet," Ron replied.

"Yeah, but you've seemed to have a bit of insight to most of your actions so far," countered George as Ron frowned and glanced between Harry and Hermione.

"I guess I just might be worried about what Hermione is going to say to people to convince them to come," said Ron shrugging.

"I'm not going to promise that Harry will tell them anything!" said Hermione effectively guessing where Ron's train of thought had gone.

**leaned forwards to listen too - 'you know the first weekend in October's a Hogsmeade weekend? How would it be if we tell anyone who's interested to meet us in the village and we can talk it over?'**

**'Why do we have to do it outside school?' said Ron.**

"I doubt Umbridge would be very happy if she found out what you were doing, she's supposed to be stopping you from being trained remember," supplied Remus.

"That's still the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard of," added Hestia before reading the last sentence for the paragraph.

**'Because,' said Hermione, returning to the diagram of the Chinese Chomping Cabbage she was copying, 'I don't think Umbridge would be very happy if she found out what we were up to.'**

**Harry had been looking forward to the weekend trip into Hogsmeade, but there was one thing worrying him. Sirius had maintained a stony silence since he had appeared in the fire at the beginning of September; **

Remus sighed he had figured that Harry's rejection would put Sirius in a sour mood, coupling that with less than frequent visits from the Order and being stuck inside Grimmuald Place with only Kreacher for company, well he wasn't all that surprise that Sirius was attempting to lock the world out.

Molly bit her lip as she watched Sirius across the room, who was currently whispering something- an apology no doubt- to Harry. She knew that Sirius hated this house and everything it represented to him, but locking himself away was not the answer, in fact in light of Sirius's memory problems, it was in fact probably one of the worst things he could do. Maybe she could have a talk to Dumbledore and Sirius could come to the Burrow for a few days, a bit of respite from being cooped up in Grimmauld for days on end. Besides the country side and fresh air would do him a world of good.

**Harry knew they had made him angry by saying they didn't want him to come - but he still worried from time to time that Sirius might throw caution to the winds and turn up anyway. **

"Not angry Harry, disappointed that I didn't get to see you, yes, but I'll never be angry with you for wanting me safe," Sirius whispered to Harry as the boy looked up at him, his big green eyes that looked so much like his mother's shining with something akin to gratitude at this information.

"I understand, I hate not being able to see you as well," Harry whispered in reply, missing the next sentence as Hestia read on.

**What were they going to do if the great black dog came bounding up the street towards them in Hogsmeade, perhaps under the nose of Draco Malfoy?**

**'Well, you can't blame him for wanting to get out and about,' said Ron, when Harry discussed his fears with him and Hermione. 'I mean, he's been on the run for over two years, hasn't he, and I know that can't have been a laugh, but at least he was free, wasn't he? And now he's just shut up all the time with that ghastly elf.'**

"Exactly, what I wouldn't give to just get out of this stupid house!" cried Sirius throwing his arms in the air.

"Yes leave the house and go straight back to Azkaban, oh no wait they'd give you the kiss. Good thinking Black," said Snape waspishly.

"Aw thanks Snape, anyone would think you cared," Sirius snapped back.

"Oh I can assure that I don't, I just don't want to have to listen to your mad cousin when she finds out you went and got yourself killed," Snape countered crossing his arms and glaring at Sirius. Sirius growled low in his chest but stopped when he felt those surrounding him go stiff at the idea of him dying. Sirius sent Snape one last glare before telling Hestia to continue reading. Then without thinking he pressed a kiss onto the side of Emmeline's forehead and ran his fingers gently through Harry's hair. It wasn't until he felt Harry relaxing under his touch did he realise that he had just kissed Emmeline. His eyes widened as his brain caught up with his actions, he had _kissed_ Emmeline! _Calm down Sirius, it was just a friendly reassuring gesture_ he thought desperately to himself. He glanced down at the woman beside him and saw that she was blushing furiously and trying to avoid his gaze, staring at the book in Hestia hands. Sirius sighed _well that's just great!_ he thought.

"Sirius, you're blushing," came Remus's voice from across the lounge. Sirius's eyes widened again as he heard Remus laughing quietly to himself. _Course he would notice the stupid, cocky werewolf_ Sirius thought glaring at his almost ex-best friend. Remus gave him the biggest grin he had ever seen before winking at his blushing friend and turning his attention back to the book, effectively leaving Sirius to stew in his unkind thoughts towards his now ex-best friend.

**Hermione scowled at Ron, but otherwise ignored the slight on Kreacher.**

**The trouble is,' she said to Harry, 'until V-Voldemort - oh, for heaven's sake, Ron – **

"Great now I have both of you hissing at me, it's not like you too grew up with or anything," grumbled Ron as Harry rolled his eyes. He knew Ron was just being difficult because he could, and that he would carry on completely ignoring both of them anyway.

**comes out into the open, Sirius is going to have to stay hidden, isn't he? I mean, the stupid Ministry isn't going to realise Sirius is innocent until they accept that Dumbledore's been telling the truth about him all along. And once the fools start catching real Death Eaters again, it'll be obvious Sirius isn't one . . . I mean, he hasn't got the Mark, for one thing.'**

"Just because they don't have a mark doesn't mean they're not Death Eaters," said Bill as the other Order members nodded.

"How else do you think he can have spies in every day places," added Dedalus.

"I guess I didn't think of that," said Hermione flushing slightly.

**'I don't reckon he'd be stupid enough to turn up,' said Ron bracingly. 'Dumbledore'd go mad if he did and Sirius listens to Dumbledore even if he doesn't like what he hears.'**

"Unfortunately that is correct," Sirius grumbled to himself.

"I'm sorry for putting you through thus Sirius, if there were another way then I would take it," said Dumbledore to which Sirius nodded curtly in reply.

**When Harry continued to look worried, Hermione said, 'Listen, Ron and I have been sounding out people who we thought might want to learn some proper Defence Against the Dark Arts, and there are a couple who seem interested. We've told them to meet us in Hogsmeade.'**

"I have no doubt that you'll be seeing us there," grinned George gesturing between himself and his twin.

"You can count me and Luna in as well," added Ginny as Luna nodded, her dreamy smile spreading over her face. Harry nodded, he could deal with teaching the Weasley's, even Luna, he could only hope that that was what Hermione meant when she said 'a couple' of people were interested.

**'Right,' said Harry vaguely, his mind still on Sirius.**

**'Don't worry, Harry,' Hermione said quietly. 'You've got enough on your plate without Sirius, too.'**

**She was quite right, of course, he was barely keeping up with his homework, though he was doing much better now that he was no longer spending every evening in detention with Umbridge. Ron was even further behind with his work than Harry, because while they both had Quidditch practice twice a week, Ron also had his prefect duties. **

"Don't worry Ron, you'll get used to it, the first couple of months are the hardest and then you find a sort of balance between your school work and duties," said Bill reassuring his little brother.

"Yeah but what about Quidditch as well?" asked Ron frowning.

"You'll be fine, if they mean that much to you, you'll be able to work it out just fine," said Arthur smiling.

"Thanks dad," replied Ron grinning back at his father.

**However, Hermione, who was taking more subjects than either of them, had not only finished all her homework but was also finding time to knit more elf clothes. Harry had to admit that she was getting better; it was now almost always possible to distinguish between the hats and the socks.**

Hermione huffed but at least Harry had said she was getting better, and if Mrs Weasley could teach her before they went to Hogwarts, then she'd be able to knit maybe five every night. Hermione smiled to herself and, thankfully, missed the exasperated look that covered Ron's face as he rolled his eyes.

**The morning of the Hogsmeade visit dawned bright but windy. After breakfast they queued up in front of Filch, who matched their names to the long list of students who had permission from their parents or guardian to visit the village. With a slight pang, Harry remembered that if it hadn't been for Sirius, he would not have been going at all.**

"Harry you have got to stop feeling guilty about everything, It's my fault that I'm stuck in here, not yours, so stop blaming yourself," said Sirius sternly as he poked Harry in the shoulder. Harry frowned but nodded, Sirius had poked him which meant he was being serious but Harry honestly didn't think he'd be able to do it.

"It's not your fault either Padfoot," whispered Remus.

"Yes it is," replied Sirius, sighing as he watched Harry out of the corner of his eye. "It was my fault, all of it. So don't tell me otherwise," he added frowning.

"It was Peter and Voldemort," countered Remus as Sirius shrugged, clearly not believing him.

**When Harry reached Filch, the caretaker gave a great sniff as though trying to detect a whiff of something from Harry. Then he gave a curt nod that set his jowls aquiver again and Harry walked on, out on to the stone steps and the cold, sunlit day.**

**'Er - why was Filch sniffing you?' asked Ron, as he, Harry and Hermione set off at: a brisk pace down the wide drive to the gates.**

**'I suppose he was checking for the smell of Dungbombs,' said Harry with a small laugh. 'I forgot to tell you . . .'**

**And he recounted the story of sending his letter to Sirius and Filch bursting in seconds later, demanding to see the letter. To his slight surprise, Hermione found this story highly interesting, much more, indeed, than he did himself.**

"Honestly Harry, doesn't it seem a bit suspicious to you at all?" asked Hermione.

"Well, yeah it does now," said Harry frowning.

**'He said he was tipped off you were ordering Dungbombs? But who tipped him off?'**

**'I dunno,' said Harry, shrugging. 'Maybe Malfoy he'd think it was a laugh.'**

**They walked between the tall stone pillars topped with winged boars and turned left on to the road into the village, the wind whipping their hair into their eyes.**

**'Malfoy?' said Hermione, sceptically. 'Well . . . yes . . . maybe . . .'**

**And she remained deep in thought all the way into the outskirts of Hogsmeade.**

**'Where are we going, anyway?' Harry asked. The Three Broomsticks?'**

**'Oh - no,' said Hermione, coming out of her reverie, 'no, it's always packed and really noisy. I've told the others to meet us in the Hog's Head, that other pub, you know the one, it's not on the main road. I think it's a bit . . . you know . . . dodgy . . . but students don't normally go in there, so I don't think we'll be overheard.'**

"Somehow I think the Three Broomsticks would be a better option," said Sirius snickering slightly.

"Why?" asked the teenagers at the same time.

"The Hog's Head, is owned but Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother and member of the Order," said Remus, his own smile starting to take form.

"So Umbridge might not know what you're up to, but we will," added Tonks laughing slightly to the annoyed and dumbstruck looks on the teenagers faces.

**They walked down the main street past Zonko's Wizarding Joke Shop, where they were not surprised to see Fred, George and Lee Jordan, past the post office, from which owls issued at regular intervals, and turned up a side-street at the top of which stood a small inn. A battered wooden sign hung from a rusty bracket over the door, with a picture on it of a wild boar's severed head, leaking blood on to the white cloth around it. The sign creaked in the wind as they approached. All three of them hesitated outside the door.**

**'Well, come on,' said Hermione, slightly nervously. Harry led the way inside.**

**It was not at all like the Three Broomsticks, whose large bar gave an impression of gleaming warmth and cleanliness. The Hog's Head bar comprised one small, dingy and very dirty room that smelled strongly of something that might have been goats. **

Dumbledore smiled, his brother's strange affinity for goats had always been a talking point in the wizarding community, Dumbledore on the other hand had always found it to be amusing. Not that he would ever tell his brother that, especially after he had been arrested and they had had their falling out all of those years ago, but even now it still brought a smile to his lips.

**The bay windows were so encrusted with grime that very little daylight could permeate the room, which was lit instead with the stubs of candles sitting on rough wooden tables. The floor seemed at first glance to be compressed earth, though as Harry stepped on to it he realised that there was stone beneath what seemed to be the accumulated filth of centuries.**

"Well I can't say I've ever seen him clean the place," commented Arthur.

**Harry remembered Hagrid mentioning this pub in his first year: 'Yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head,' he had said, explaining how he had won a dragon's egg from a hooded stranger there. **

"You mean there really was a dragon?" asked Ginny.

"What dragon?" shrieked Molly.

"How do you know about that?" asked Ron suspiciously.

"Neville told me at the Yule Ball last year," replied Ginny shrugging.

"What dragon?" repeated Molly glaring at her son.

"Oh, um like the book just said Hagrid got a dragon egg," said Ron trailing off looking at Hermione and avoiding his mother's gaze.

"And he hatched it and was going to keep it but…"added Hermione and she too trailed off under Molly's glare which then turned on Harry when he cleared his throat.

"But we convinced him to send Norbert to Charlie in Romania," he said.

"Norbert?" asked Sirius in a weak voice.

"Um that's what he named it," Harry replied wincing at the worried look on Sirius and Remus's faces.

"Did you know about this Dumbledore?" asked Arthur looking at the older man.

"No, Hagrid only mentioned he had hatched a dragon once last year, during the first challenge of the Tri Wizard tornament and he did not mention that any others involved," Dumbledore replied ignoring the look of outrage on Molly's face. He didn't pretended to be Hagrid's keeper, nor did he know what Hagrid did of every second of his day.

**At the time Harry had wondered why Hagrid had not found it odd that the stranger kept his face hidden throughout their encounter; now he saw that keeping your face hidden was something of a fashion in the Hog's Head. **

"Yeah it tends to be where the dodgier clientele go because as long as you pay him and aren't trying to kill anybody, Aberforth doesn't ask questions," commented Bill.

"How would you know that?" asked George.

"I've had to meet a couple of people there before on Gringott's business," he replied shrugging.

**There was a man at the bar whose whole head was wrapped in dirty grey bandages, though he was still managing to gulp endless glasses of some smoking, fiery substance through a slit over his mouth; two figures shrouded in hoods sat at a table in one of the windows; Harry might have thought them Dementors if they had not been talking in strong Yorkshire accents, and in a shadowy corner beside the fireplace sat a witch with a thick, black veil that fell to her toes. They could just see the tip of her nose because it caused the veil to protrude slightly.**

"Maybe that's why she wears it," suggested Fred, earning a scattering of chuckles.

"You don't think that's 'Dung do you," Tonks whispered in Remus's ear, carefully not to let any of the teenagers hear her.

"Possibly, it wouldn't surprise me if Dumbledore sent him to keep an eye on Harry," Remus whispered back.

"'Cause that worked out so well last time, besides Sirius would chuck a wobbly," Tonks reminded him.

"'Dung won't want to get on Sirius's bad side again, but I have a feeling that Sirius would have agreed to it. Especially since he isn't in the position to watch Harry himself," countered Remus.

"If you two are finished..." trailed off Hestia, her eyebrows raised as Sirius snickered beside them and thus disrupting the rest of the conversation.

**'I don't know about this, Hermione,' Harry muttered, as they crossed to the bar. He was looking particularly at the heavily veiled witch. 'Has it occurred to you Umbridge might be under that?'**

**Hermione cast an appraising eye over the veiled figure.**

**'Umbridge is shorter than that woman,' she said quietly. **

"Good eye," said Tonks smiling at the younger girl.

**'And anyway, even if Umbridge does come in here there's nothing she can do to stop us, Harry, because I've double- and triple-checked the school rules. We're not out of bounds; I specifically asked Professor Flitwick whether students were allowed to come in the Hog's Head, and he said yes, but he advised me strongly to bring our own glasses.**

Dumbledore chuckled again, cleanliness had never been his brother's strong point, but then he was a pub owner and spent most of his time with goats.

**And I've looked up everything I can think of about study groups and homework groups and they're definitely allowed. I just don't think it's a good idea if we parade what we're doing.'**

**'No,' said Harry drily, 'especially as it's not exactly a homework group you're planning, is it?'**

**The barman sidled towards them out of a back room. He was a grumpy-looking old man with a great deal of long grey hair and beard. He was tall and thin and looked vaguely familiar to Harry.**

"Well he does 'vaguely' look like Professor Dumbledore, what with them being brothers and all," Tonks quipped laughing.

"It's not like I would have known that at the time," retorted Harry.

"Mad-Eye showed you a picture of him," countered Tonks her eyebrows raised as she morphed into Aberforth then back again in about 10 seconds flat.

"Shut up," whined Harry crossing his arms in a mock huff causing Tonks to laugh and Sirius smile at his cousin and godson's interaction.

**What? he grunted.**

**'Three Butterbeers, please,' said Hermione.**

**The man reached beneath the counter and pulled up three very dusty, very dirty bottles, which he slammed on the bar.**

**'Six Sickles,' he said.**

**'I'll get them,' said Harry quickly, passing over the silver. The barman's eyes travelled over Harry, resting for a fraction of a second on his scar. Then he turned away and deposited Harry's money in an ancient wooden till whose drawer slid open automatically to receive it. Harry, Ron and Hermione retreated to the furthest table from the bar and sat down, looking around. The man in the dirty grey bandages rapped the counter with his knuckles and received another smoking drink from the barman.**

"Firewhisky," supplied Sirius when Harry sent him a questioning glance.

**'You know what?' Ron murmured, looking over at the bar with enthusiasm. 'We could order anything we liked in here. I bet that bloke would sell us anything, he wouldn't care. I've always wanted to try Firewhisky - '**

"You are a Prefect Ronald!" scolded Molly.

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting about that…" trailed off Ron throwing his mother a look that was supposed to be innocent but she glared at his, so obviously it didn't fool anyone.

**'You - are - a - prefect,' snarled Hermione.**

**'Oh,' said Ron, the smile fading from his face. 'Yeah . . .'**

Hermione shook her head in a Merlin-give-me-strength kind of way but otherwise made no further comment. Ron, who had noticed this beamed at the thought of not getting yelled at again.

**'So, who did you say is supposed to be meeting us?' Harry asked, wrenching open the rusty top of his Butterbeer and taking a swig.**

**'Just a couple of people,' Hermione repeated, checking her watch and looking anxiously towards the door. 'I told them to be here about now and I'm sure they all know where it is - oh, look, this might be them now.'**

Harry took a deep breath. He could already tell he was going to regret agreeing to this meeting, now he was going to see just exactly how much.

**The door of the pub had opened. A thick band of dusty sunlight split the room in two for a moment and then vanished, blocked by the incoming rush of a crowd of people.**

**First came Neville with Dean and Lavender, who were closely followed by Parvati and Padma Patil with (Harry's stomach did a back-flip) Cho **

Ginny gagged but quickly turned it into cough as Harry and Ron sent her funny looks. She smiled sweetly and turned her attention away back to the book mentally scolding herself for being so obvious.

**and one of her usually-giggling girlfriends, then (on her own and looking so dreamy she might have walked in by accident) Luna Lovegood; then Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson, Colin and Dennis Creevey Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff girl with a long plait clown her back whose name Harry did not know; three Ravenclaw boys he was pretty sure were called Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner**

Ginny gasped as her eyes widened. She had forgotten all about Michael! How could she do that? Sure the last couple of days had been a little exciting and she hadn't really been thinking of much other than what was going to happen in the book, but still, he was her boyfriend! _Oh Merlin,_ thought Ginny as she glanced at the dark hair boy next to her _she had been flirting with Harry and thinking about kissing him and was jealous of Cho for liking Harry and oh she was a horrible person!_

"Are you alright Ginny?" came Harry's voice from his place next to her.

"I-I'm fine," she said, her voice a bit shaky as a wave of guilt hit her. Harry frowned, Ginny had gone very pale quite suddenly and then when he asked her about it she tensed up.

"She's fine Harry," said Hermione drawing Harry's attention away from the red head. "I suspect she's just remembered something, that's all," she added sending Ginny a sympathetic glance as Harry frowned.

**and Terry Boot, Ginny, closely followed by a tall skinny blond boy with an upturned nose whom Harry recognised vaguely as being a member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and, bringing up the rear, Fred and George Weasley with their friend Lee Jordan, all three of whom were carrying large paper bags crammed with Zonko's merchandise.**

Harry was now white as a sheet having done the math in his head. "Twenty-five people are not a couple Hermione," he said hoarsely. Hermione blushed and Ron rolled his eyes but neither made any comment, both of them knew Harry didn't really want them too, he was just a little too shocked to say anything else.

**'A couple of people?' said Harry hoarsely to Hermione. 'A couple of people?'**

**'Yes, well, the idea seemed quite popular,' said Hermione happily. 'Ron, do you want to pull up some more chairs?'**

**The barman had frozen in the act of wiping out a glass with a rag so filthy it looked as though it had never been washed. Possibly, he had never seen his pub so full.**

"I think it has more to do with the fact that he has normal people in there for once," said Sirius. "Well, I say normal…" he added trailing off and laughing when Ginny smacked him.

"I'll have you know that Hermione, Luna and I are perfectly normal, thank you very much," she said scowling and looking terrifyingly like her mother.

"Oh, and me and Ron aren't?" asked Harry, keen to get her talking to him again.

"Oi and what about us?" yelled Fred pointing to George.

"Oh, well we all know the Twins are a lost cause (Hey!) but I suppose you and Ron could be considered as normal, what do you reckon Hermione, Luna?" replied Ginny smirking slightly at the outraged looks on the Twins faces and the amused looks of the others in the room.

"I suppose," said Hermione grinning at the glares Harry and Ron sent her. "You know, normal for boys," she finished giggling with Ginny at the identical looks of indignation on the boys faces.

"I can't feel any Wrackspurts in the air around them," added Luna looking at the two boys sideways.

"What's a Wrackspurt?" asked Hestia looking up from the book in her hands.

"It's an invisible creature that makes your brain go fuzzy," answered Remus causing Luna to smile at him.

"How do you know that?" asked Emmeline.

"Luna told me in her second year," replied Remus shrugging and ending the conversation. Hestia then quickly took this lull in conversation as an opportunity to continue reading.

**'Hi,' said Fred, reaching the bar first and counting his companions quickly, 'could we have . . . twenty-five Butterbeers, please?'**

**The barman glared at him for a moment, then, throwing down his rag irritably as though he had been interrupted in something very important, he started passing up dusty Butterbeers from under the bar.**

"I don't think I would be very impressed either," chuckled Dedalus.

**'Cheers,' said Fred, handing them out. 'Cough up, everyone, I haven't got enough gold for all of these . . .'**

**Harry watched numbly as the large chattering group took their beers from Fred and rummaged in their robes to find coins. He could not imagine what all these people had turned up for until the horrible thought occurred to him that they might be expecting same kind of speech, at which he rounded on Hermione.**

"See this is what I was frowning about earlier, Harry doesn't know what Hermione told them, so know he's going to biting her head off," commented Ron.

**'What have you been telling people?' he said in a low voice. 'What are they expecting?'**

**'I've told you, they just want to hear what you've got to say,' said Hermione soothingly; but Harry continued to look at her so furiously that she added quickly, 'you don't have to do anything yet, I'll speak to them first.'**

**'Hi, Harry' said Neville, beaming and taking a seat opposite him.**

**Harry tried to smile back, but did not speak; his mouth was exceptionally dry. Cho had just smiled at him and sat down on Ron's right. Her friend, who had curly reddish-blonde hair, did not smile, but gave Harry a thoroughly mistrustful look which plainly told him that, given her way, she would not be here at all.**

"Then make sure she doesn't come this time, she could be dangerous," said Sirius grimly.

"You mean she'll snitch on us?" asked Ron frowning.

"I'm saying that if she was made to come then it's not likely that she'll feel any sense of loyalty towards the group," answered Sirius as Harry and the others frowned.

**In twos and threes the new arrivals settled around Harry, Ron and Hermione, some looking rather excited, others curious, Luna Lovegood gazing dreamily into space. **

Ron glanced over at Luna across the room and smiled when he saw she had the same look on her face as in the book.

**When everybody had pulled up a chair, the chatter died out. Every eye was upon Harry.**

**'Er,' said Hermione, her voice slightly higher than usual out of nerves. 'Well - er - hi.'**

**The group focused its attention on her instead, though eyes continued to dart back regularly to Harry.**

**'Well . . . erm . . . well, you know why you're here. Erm . . . well, Harry here had the idea**

Harry glared at Hermione as she smiled weakly at him.

**- I mean' (Harry had thrown her a sharp look) 'I had the idea - that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defence Against the Dark Arts - and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us - '(Hermione's voice became suddenly much stronger and more confident) ' - because nobody could call that Defence Against the Dark Arts - ' ('Hear, hear,' said Anthony Goldstein, and Hermione looked heartened) ' - Well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands.'**

"Good if you sound confident, people will think that you are and they will listen to you," praised Remus as Hermione smiled bashfully.

**She paused, looked sideways at Harry and went on, 'And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing the real spells - '**

**'You want to pass your Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL too, though, I bet?' said Michael Corner, who was watching her closely.**

**'Of course I do,' said Hermione at once. 'But more than that, I want to be properly trained in defence because . . . because . . .' she took a great breath and finished, 'because Lord Voldemort is back.'**

Hestia stumbled over the sentence, but she as well as everyone else in the room was able to say the name. Dedalus smiled at the woman he considered as a sister, an annoying extremely scary little sister, but a sister non-the-less he was proud of her for being able to say the name of the monster that seemed to haunt England.

**The reaction was immediate and predictable. Cho's friend shrieked and slopped Butterbeer down herself; Terry Boot gave a kind of involuntary twitch; Padma Patil shuddered, and Neville gave an odd yelp that he managed to turn into a cough. All of them, however, looked fixedly, even eagerly, at Harry.**

"Do you know what I've never understood, why do people freak out so much, I mean I understand the gasping and stuff like that but shrieking? Why do people do that?" asked Harry partly annoyed and partly curious.

"Maybe because they aren't expecting it," responded Luna.

**Well . . . that's the plan, anyway,' said Hermione. 'If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to -**

**'Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back?' said the blond Hufflepuff player in a rather aggressive voice.**

**'Well, Dumbledore believes it - ' Hermione began.**

**'You mean, Dumbledore believes him,' said the blond boy, nodding at Harry.**

**'Who are you?' said Ron, rather rudely.**

**'Zacharias Smith,' said the boy, 'and I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who's back.'**

"Can we leave him out of this as well?" asked Ron crossing his arms and glaring at the book, he hadn't even met the guy and Ron already didn't like him.

**'Look,' said Hermione, intervening swiftly, 'that's really not what this meeting was supposed to be about - '**

**'It's OK, Hermione,' said Harry.**

**It had just dawned on him why there were so many people there. He thought Hermione should have seen this coming. Some of these people - maybe even most of them - had turned up in the hopes of hearing Harry's story firsthand.**

Harry glowered; if that was why they were there then they could all shove off he wasn't going to tell them anything.

**'What makes me say You-Know-Who's back?' he repeated, looking Zacharias straight in the face. 'I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you won't believe me, and I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone.'**

**The whole group seemed to have held its breath while Harry spoke. Harry had the impression that even the barman was listening. He was wiping the same glass with the filthy rag, making it steadily dirtier.**

"That's disgusting," said Emmeline wrinkling her nose.

**Zacharias said dismissively, 'All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts. He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we'd all like to know - '**

"I'm about to explain the mechanics of how Voldemort murder's someone," growled Harry furiously.

"And no one expects you to Harry," murmured Sirius soothingly.

"They do," replied Harry glaring at the book and making Hestia feel distinctly uncomfortable.

"Then you ignore them dear, they were told what happened and if they don't believe it then that's their problem, you don't owe them anything," countered Molly sternly but smiling at him reassuringly. Harry smiled a little at Molly's words and nodded before once again leaning into Sirius's legs and listening to Hestia as she resumed reading.

**'If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can't help you,' Harry said. His temper, always so close to the surface these days, was rising again. He did not take his eyes from Zacharias Smith's aggressive face, and was determined not to look at Cho. 'I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out.'**

**He cast an angry look in Hermione's direction. This was, he felt, all her fault; she had decided to display him like some sort of freak and of course they had all turned up to see just now wild his story was. **

"I'm sorry Harry," mumbled Hermione as she hugged him.

"It's fine Hermione, it's not really your fault," Harry whispered back returning the hug.

**But none of them left their seats, not even Zacharias Smith, though he continued to gaze intently at Harry.**

**'So,' said Hermione, her voice very high-pitched again. 'So . . . like I was saying . . . if you want to learn some defence, then we need to work out how we're going to do it, how often we're going to meet and where we're going to - '**

"That is going to be a bit of a problem," commented Arthur offhandedly, ignoring his wife's glare for agreeing with such an idea.

**'Is it true,' interrupted the girl with the long plait down her back, looking at Harry, 'that you can produce a Patronus?'**

**There was a murmur of interest around the group at this.**

**'Yeah,' said Harry slightly defensively.**

**'A corporeal Patronus?'**

"That must be Susan," said Hermione as Ron and Harry nodded (not that they had ever spoken to her).

**The phrase stirred something in Harry's memory.**

**'Er - you don't know Madam Bones, do you?' he asked.**

**The girl smiled.**

**'She's my auntie,' she said. 'I'm Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing. So - is it really true? You make a stag Patronus?'**

**'Yes,' said Harry.**

**'Blimey, Harry!' said Lee, looking deeply impressed. 'I never knew that!'**

**'Mum told Ron not to spread it around,' said Fred, grinning at Harry. 'She said you got enough attention as it was.'**

"Like I would anyway," muttered Ron.

"I know you wouldn't mate," Harry told him grinning, then turning to Molly he added, "Thanks Mrs Weasley."

"It's no trouble dear, I know Ron wouldn't say anything anyway, but I know how much Ron likes to brag about things, especially on his friends behalves," replied Molly. Harry grinned again thinking about all of the times he had heard Ron bragging about how good Harry was on a broom stick and how smart Hermione was, in fact it wasn't often that Harry had heard Ron brag about himself and usually it was about how good he was at chess because he knew for certain it was true.

**'She's not wrong,' mumbled Harry, and a couple of people laughed.**

**The veiled witch sitting alone shifted very slightly in her seat.**

**'And did you kill a Basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?' demanded Terry Boot. **

Sirius and Remus blanched, Harry had killed a what! Harry however winced when he saw the looks on his 'uncle' and godfather's faces. Despite it being mentioned before, obviously Dumbledore (nor anyone else) had ever gotten around to telling either of them what Harry had gotten up to before he had met them and it probably wasn't the best way for them to find out that he killed a Basilisk when he was twelve.

**That's what one of the portraits on the wall told me when I was in there last year . . .'**

**'Er - yeah, I did, yeah,' said Harry.**

"I thought that was supposed to be a secret," frowned Molly, worried about her daughter's involvement, unwillingly or not.

"Of course Molly, but as you well know, if it is a secret then it is only natural that the students would know," supplied Dumbledore.

"Yeah the rumour mill at Hogwarts is huge," added Emmeline.

**Justin Finch-Fletchley whistled; the Creevey brothers exchanged awestruck looks and Lavender Brown said 'Wow!' softly. Harry was feeling slightly hot around the collar now; he was determinedly looking anywhere but at Cho.**

Ginny giggled as Harry glared at her, blushing a bit. As much as she didn't like the idea of Harry with Cho, she had to admit it was funny to tease Harry.

**'And in our first year,' said Neville to the group at large, 'he saved that Philological Stone - '**

**'Philosopher's,' hissed Hermione.**

**'Yes, that - from You-Know-Who,' finished Neville.**

**Hannah Abbotts eyes were as round as Galleons.**

"Check, check, check and check, right Harry that's one of your adventures for every year you've been at Hogwarts," laughed Ron as Harry groaned. "Oh come on don't be modest," Ron added laughing again when Harry glared at him.

"They were your adventures as well," mumbled Harry laughing as Ron squirmed under the gaze of his parents, their faces showing that even though it had happened years ago and it had already been explained to them, they still weren't impressed, extremely proud but not even remotely impressed.

**'And that's not to mention,' said Cho (Harry's eyes snapped across to her; she was looking at him, smiling; his stomach did another somersault) 'all the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year - getting past dragons and merpeople and Acromantula and things . . .'**

Ron shuddered before muttering 'follow the bloody spiders' to himself again, much to the confusion of the rest of the room.

**There was a murmur of impressed agreement around the table. Harry's insides were squirming. He was trying to arrange his face so that he did not look too pleased with himself. The fact that Cho had just praised him made it much, much harder for him to say the thing he had sworn to himself he would tell them.**

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking of the thousand other places he would rather be than stuck in this room listening to Potter sprout feelings about Miss Chang.

**'Look,' he said, and everyone fell silent at once, 'I . . . I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be modest or anything, but . . . I had a lot of help with all that stuff . . .'**

**'Not with the dragon, you didn't,' said Michael Corner at once. 'That was a seriously cool bit of flying . . .'**

**'Yeah, well - ' said Harry, feeling it would be churlish to disagree.**

**'And nobody helped you get rid of those Dementors this summer,' said Susan Bones.**

**'No,' said Harry, 'no, OK, I know I did bits of it without help, but the point I'm trying to make is - '**

"Before anyone says anything, I'm not being modest," protested Harry looking around the room rolling his eyes when he saw Snape send him a look that he supposed was Snape's way of say 'you're not being modest you're enjoying all of the attention blah blah blah'.

**'Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?' said Zacharias Smith.**

**'Here's an idea,' said Ron loudly, before Harry could speak, 'why don't you shut your mouth?'**

"Ronald!" chided Molly but Ron ignored her in favour of glowering at the book.

**Perhaps the word 'weasel' had affected Ron particularly strongly. In any case, he was now looking at Zacharias as though he would like nothing better than to thump him. **

Harry looked at his best friend that it probably had something to do with Malfoy's nickname for him 'Weaselby', but he still wouldn't be surprised if Ron did indeed punch him.

**Zacharias flushed.**

**'Well, we've all turned up to learn from him and now he's telling us he can't really do any of it,' he said.**

**That's not what he said,' snarled Fred.**

"Maybe we should clean his ears out," said George.

"That may be a good idea," agreed Fred.

**'Would you like us to clean out your ears for you?' enquired Greorge, pulling a long and lethal-looking metal instrument from inside one of the Zonko's bags.**

**'Or any part of your body, really, we're not fussy where we stick this,' said Fred.**

"Boys!" cried Molly exasperatedly as the Twins exchanged a devious look, they obviously had an idea of what the mystery instrument was.

**'Yes, well, said Hermione hastily, moving on . . . the point is are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry?'**

**There was a murmur of general agreement. Zacharias folded his arms and said nothing, though perhaps this was because he was too busy keeping an eye on the instrument in Fred's hand.**

**'Right,' said Hermione, looking relieved that something had at last been settled. 'Well, then, the next question is how often we do it. I really don't think there's any point in meeting less than once a week - '**

"What about Quidditch?" asked Ron as the Twins and Harry cried out in agreement.

"Honestly, what's more important, learning to defend yourselves or Quidditch?" Hermione asked rolling her eyes, then seeing the looks she was being given groaned and added, "Don't answer that."

**'Hang on,' said Angelina, 'we need to make sure this doesn't clash with our Quidditch practice.'**

**'No,' said Cho, 'nor with ours.'**

**'Nor ours,' added Zacharias Smith.**

**'I'm sure we can find a night that suits everyone,' said Hermione, slightly impatiently, 'but you know, this is rather important, we're talking about learning to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort's Death Eaters - '**

"Quidditch is important to," argued Harry grinning sheepishly when the adults gave him a funny look.

**'Well said!' barked Ernie Macmillan, who Harry had been expecting to speak long before this. 'Personally, I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year, even with our OWLs coming up!'**

**He looked around impressively, as though waiting for people to cry 'Surely not!' When nobody spoke, he went on, 'I, personally, am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher on us at this critical period. Obviously, they are in denial about the return of You-Know-Who, but to give us a teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from using defensive spells - '**

"Well said, I like this guy," agreed Dedalus.

**'We think the reason Umbridge doesn't want us trained in Defence Against the Dark Arts,' said Hermione, 'is that she's got some . . . some mad idea that Dumbledore could use the students in the school as a kind of private army. She thinks he'd mobilise us against the Ministry'**

**Nearly everybody looked stunned at this news; everybody except Luna Lovegood, who piped up, 'Well, that makes sense. After all, Cornelius Fudge has got his own private army'**

"What!?" was the general cry from around the room.

"Daddy says he has an army of Heliopaths," said Luna shrugging. Hermione opened her mouth to argue but closed it again realising that she would probably argue with Luna in the book and therefore there was no sense in doing now.

**'What?' said Harry, completely thrown by this unexpected piece of information.**

**'Yes, he's got an army of Heliopaths,' said Luna solemnly.**

"What's a Heliopath?" Ginny asked Luna, but before Luna could answer Hestia said,

"She's about to explain in the book if you'll just wait a second."

"Blimey Ginny that's like the hundredth time that you've asked a questions that's about to be answered in the book, learn a little patience would you," teased Ron.

"Shut up, and it's been like three not a hundred," retorted Ginny scowling at her brother as he laughed at her.

**'No, he hasn't,' snapped Hermione.**

**'Yes, he has,' said Luna.**

**'What are Heliopaths?' asked Neville, looking blank.**

**They're spirits of fire,' said Luna, her protuberant eyes widening so that she looked madder than ever, 'great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of - '**

**They don't exist, Neville,' said Hermione tartly.**

**'Oh, yes, they do!' said Luna angrily.**

"There are plenty of eye witness accounts of people seeing them, just because you don't believe in something doesn't mean it isn't real, or don't you believe in platypuses either?" said Luna, her voice cold.

"Does anybody know what a platypus has to do with this?" asked Sirius quietly as the two girls glared at each other.

"English scientist didn't believe that they existed and that somebody had just stitched a duck a beaver and an otter as hoax," said Luna before crossing her arms and staring at the floor leaving the room in a sort of awkward silence. Hestia cleared her throat and started to read again.

**'I'm sorry, but where's the proof of that?' snapped Hermione.**

**There are plenty of eye-witness accounts. Just because you're so narrow-minded you need to have everything shoved under your nose before you - '**

Hermione glared again at the girl across the room, how dare Luna call her narrow-minded just because she liked facts and evidence doesn't mean she was narrow-minded, it wasn't her fault that Luna had her head in the clouds so much that the things she said didn't make sense.

**'Hem, hem,' said Ginny, in such a good imitation of Professor Umbridge that several people looked around in alarm and then laughed. 'Weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet and have defence lessons?'**

"Hem, hem," said Ginny trying out the imitation, laughing when she saw Remus shudder.

"That's almost perfect and you've never heard her," he told her shivering again at the thought.

**'Yes,' said Hermione at once, 'yes, we were, you're right, Ginny.'**

**Well, once a week sounds cool,' said Lee Jordan.**

**'As long as - ' began Angelina.**

**'Yes, yes, we know about the Quidditch,' said Hermione in a tense voice. 'Well, the other thing to decide is where we're going to meet . . .'**

**This was rather more difficult; the whole group fell silent.**

**'Library?' suggested Katie Bell after a few moments.**

**'I can't see Madam Pince being too chuffed with us doing jinxes in the library,' said Harry.**

**'Maybe an unused classroom?' said Dean.**

**'Yeah,' said Ron, 'McGonagall might let us have hers, she did when Harry was practising for the Tri wizard.'**

**But Harry was pretty certain that McGonagall would not be so accommodating this time. For all that Hermione had said about study and homework groups being allowed, he had the distinct feeling that this one might be considered a lot more rebellious.**

"No as much as Minerva dislikes Dolores, I do not think she would condone the use of a classroom for such a club," chuckled Dumbledore.

"Minnie's such a spoil sport," grinned Sirius shaking his head.

**'Right, well, we'll try to find somewhere,' said Hermione. 'We'll send a message round to everybody when we've got a time and a place for the first meeting.'**

**She rummaged in her bag and produced parchment and a quill, then hesitated, rather as though she was steeling herself to say something.**

"What did you do?" asked Harry and Ron suspiciously.

"What makes you think I did something?" Hermione countered.

**'I - I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here. But I also think,' she took a deep breath, 'that we all ought to agree not to shout about what we're doing. So if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge or anybody else what we're up to.'**

Some of the adults sent Hermione suspicious looks to which she ignored. She had an idea of what she had done to the parchment but didn't want to say anything in case she was wrong.

**Fred reached out for the parchment and cheerfully wrote his signature, but Harry noticed at once that several people looked less than happy at the prospect of putting their names on the list.**

"Well it is just short of an illegal group so I'm not surprised," said Arthur.

"You wouldn't be too keen to put your name down on a list that practically says I'm-doing-something-against-the-rules either, would you dear," responded Molly sounding frustrated, she already knew this club was a bad idea and it didn't help that four of her children were joining and one of them was a ringleader.

**'Er . . .' said Zacharias slowly, not taking the parchment that George was trying to pass to him, 'well . . . I'm sure Ernie will tell me when the meeting is.'**

**But Ernie was looking rather hesitant about signing, too. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him.**

**'I - well, we are prefects,' Ernie burst out. 'And if this list was found . . . well, I mean to say . . . you said yourself, if Umbridge finds out - '**

**'You just said this group was the most important thing you'd do this year,' Harry reminded him.**

**'I - yes,' said Ernie, 'yes, I do believe that, it's just - '**

"And he was doing so well before," mumbled Dedalus.

"He is a prefect," said Hestia looking up from the book to the man next to her.

"So are Ron and Hermione," he argued.

"And they are also Harry's best friends," she added effectively winning the argument.

**'Ernie, do you really think I'd leave that list lying around?' said Hermione testily.**

**'No. No, of course not,' said Ernie, looking slightly less anxious. 'I - yes, of course I'll sign.'**

**Nobody raised objections after Ernie, though Harry saw Cho's friend give her a rather reproachful look before adding her own name. When the last person - Zacharias - had signed, Hermione took the parchment back and slipped it carefully into her bag. There was an odd feeling in the group now. It was as though they had just signed some kind of contract.**

"What did you do Hermione?" asked Harry looking wide-eyed at his friend.

"I…I may have…put a jinx on the parchment…maybe," she murmured looking at her hands as she wrung them in her lap.

"It'll be fine, no one will blab," said Ron squeezing her hand, not that he sounded confident or anything.

**'Well, time's ticking on,' said Fred briskly, getting to his feet. 'George, Lee and I have got items of a sensitive nature to purchase, we'll be seeing you all later.'**

**In twos and threes the rest of the group took their leave, too.**

**Cho made rather a business of fastening the catch on her bag before leaving, her long dark curtain of hair swinging forwards to hide her face, but her friend stood beside her, arms folded, clicking her tongue, so that Cho had little choice but to leave with her. As her friend ushered her through the door, Cho looked back and waved at Harry.**

"I don't think her friend likes you Pup," chuckled Sirius as Harry blushed as wacked Sirius on the foot in annoyance. Not that Sirius minded, in fact it just made him laugh more.

**'Well, I think that went quite well,' said Hermione happily, as she, Harry and Ron walked out of the Hog's Head into the bright sunlight a few moments later. Harry and Ron were clutching their bottles of Butterbeer.**

**'That Zacharias bloke's a wart,' said Ron, who was glowering after the figure of Smith, just discernible in the distance.**

"I've never met the guy and I don't like him," added Ron.

"I don't think any of us do," agreed Fred.

**'I don't like him much, either,' admitted Hermione, 'but he overheard me talking to Ernie and Hannah at the Hufflepuff table and he seemed really interested in coming, so what could I say? But the more people the better really - I mean, Michael Corner and his friends wouldn't have come if he hadn't been going out with Ginny - '**

"He's What?" cried Ron and the Twins, all three of them turning to look at their little sister.

"So what of it?" demanded Ginny glaring at her brothers.

"Boys leave your sister alone, it's none of your business," scolded Molly before any of them could answer.

**Ron, who had been draining the last few drops from his Butterbeer bottle, gagged and sprayed Butterbeer down his front.**

**'He's WHAT?' spluttered Ron, outraged, his ears now resembling curls of raw beef. 'She's going out with - my sister's going - what d'you mean, Michael Corner?'**

**'Well, that's why he and his friends came, I think - well, they're obviously interested in learning defence, but if Ginny hadn't told Michael what was going on - '**

**'When did this - when did she -?'**

**'They met at the Yule Ball and got together at the end of last year,' said Hermione composedly. **

"Wait end of the year as in December or end of the year as in June?" asked Ron.

"June dummy," sighed Ginny. There had been a reason that she hadn't told Ron, he, besides Bill, was the most protective of her. This however meant that she also got into the most fights with him as a result.

**They had turned into the High Street and she paused outside Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, where there was a handsome display of pheasant feather quills in the window. 'Hmm . . . I could do with a new quill.'**

**She turned into the shop. Harry and Ron followed her.**

**'Which one was Michael Corner?' Ron demanded furiously.**

**The dark one,' said Hermione.**

**'I didn't like him,' said Ron at once.**

**'Big surprise,' said Hermione under her breath.**

**'But, said Ron, following Hermione along a row of quills in copper pots, 'I thought Ginny fancied Harry!'**

Ginny blushed as Sirius winked at her and almost giggled when Remus elbowed him in the ribs again. Harry had groaned and gone back to burying his face in his arms on the coffee table and if she wasn't about to get teased about it, Ginny would join him in trying to blend in with the table.

"We all thought she like Harry," said George.

**Hermione looked at him rather pityingly and shook her head.**

**'Ginny used to fancy Harry, but she gave up on him months ago. Not that she doesn't like you, of course,' she added kindly to Harry while she examined a long black and gold quill.**

Harry frowned into his arms, _she had given up on him?_ It's not like he really knew her all that well and that was mostly because her crush on him prevented her from actually speaking, it was hardly his fault! Then why did it make him feel guilty that she had had to give up on him and move on?

**Harry, whose head was still full of Cho's parting wave, did not find this subject quite as interesting as Ron, who was positively quivering with indignation, but it did bring something home to him that until now he had not really registered.**

**'So that's why she talks now?' he asked Hermione. 'She never used to talk in front of me.'**

Ginny blushed again and this time did try to disappear into the table.

"Sorry," Harry whispered his head resting on his arms next to her.

Ginny peeked up at him over the top of her arm, his green eyes connecting with her brown. She smiled at him and whispered back for him not to apologise, it's not like it was his fault or anything.

"She didn't speak to him?" asked Sirius curiously, careful not to let the two youngsters hear him.

"She had a hero crush on him when she was little and then he rescued her from the Chamber of Secrets, she was too shy around him and nervous she would say something stupid," replied Tonks as she quickly explained to the other three people on the lounge, of course leaving out most of what Ginny had confided in her as it was private information.

**'Exactly,' said Hermione. 'Yes, I think I'll have this one . . .'**

**She went up to the counter and handed over fifteen Sickles and two Knuts, with Ron still breathing down her neck.**

**'Ron,' she said severely as she turned and trod on his feet, 'this is exactly why Ginny hasn't told you she's seeing Michael, she knew you'd take it badly. So don't harp on about it, for heaven's sake.'**

"I'm not taking anything badly," protested Ron, "And who's harping on about anything," he added. Hestia laughed out loud as she read the next couple of sentences causing Ginny to groan, Ron to flush and Hermione to roll her eyes.

**'What d'you mean? Who's taking anything badly? I'm not going to harp on about anything . . .' Ron continued to chunter under his breath all the way down the street.**

**Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry and then said in an undertone, while Ron was still muttering imprecations about Michael Corner, 'And talking about Michael and Ginny . . . what about Cho and you?'**

"What about us, there is no 'us'" said Harry quickly as Hermione (as well as the rest of the women) smirked at him.

**'What d'you mean?' said Harry quickly.**

**It was as though boiling water was rising rapidly inside him; a burning sensation that was causing his face too smart in the cold - had he been that obvious?**

"Harry you couldn't be more obvious if you had a giant neon sign," said Hermione laughing as Harry blushed again.

"What's a neon sign?" asked Arthur taking some of the attention off Harry.

"It's like a normal Muggle light only they make them in really bright colours and can shape them to make words and shapes," explained Tonks.

"Like those lights on Muggle shops?"

"Yes exactly."

**'Well,' said Hermione, smiling slightly, 'she just couldn't keep her eyes off you, could she?'**

**Harry had never before appreciated just how beautiful the village of Hogsmeade was.**

Sirius couldn't help it, Harry's embarrassment reminded him too much of James and Lily so it was no surprise when he burst out laughing, the surprising part was when Remus and most of the room (not that they had any idea what they were laughing at, it was just contagious) joined him and then didn't stop for nearly ten minutes.

"I haven't laughed that hard in ages," said Hestia as she wiped the tears from her eyes and closing the book. She passed it over to Dedalus who opened it to the next chapter.

"Last chapter before lunch I think," he said before reading out, "**Educational Degree Number Twenty Four**."

* * *

**I totally forgot that Ginny was already dating Michel when I started writing this...hence Ginny's flirting and mini heart attack**


	23. Educational Degree Number Twenty-Four

**Sorry this chapter took me so long to update but the last couple of days have been hectic...anyways as always I do not own Harry Potter and anything that you recognise or is in bold is the work of JKRowling. Please review :)**

* * *

"Educational Decree Number Twenty-four, what do you suppose that's meant to be?" asked Hermione frowning.

"Dunno, but I bet you 10 galleons it's got something to do with Umbridge," said Harry who was now leaning back against the lounge.

"None of us are stupid enough to take that bet Harry," replied George grinning from across the room.

**Harry felt happier for the rest of the weekend than he had done all term. He and Ron spent much of Sunday catching up with all their homework again, and although this could hardly be called fun, the last burst of autumn sunshine persisted, so rather than sitting hunched over tables in the common room they took their work outside and lounged in the shade of a large beech tree on the edge of the lake. Hermione, who of course was up to date with all her work, brought more wool outside with her and bewitched her knitting needles so that they flashed and clicked in midair beside her, producing more hats and scarves.**

"Honestly Hermione, at the rate you're going you're either going to set all of the Elves free and Hogwarts will have no one to run it or they won't come anywhere near you," remarked Ron scratching the back of his neck. Hermione glared at him, but refused to admit that he had a point, after all who would run the castle if the Elves were all free. _What are you thinking, of course they'll keep working, they'll just have all of the benefits of being free, like wages and holidays_ she thought to herself, before commenting the same thing out loud.

**Knowing they were doing something to resist Umbridge and the Ministry and that he was a key part of the rebellion, gave Harry a feeling of immense satisfaction. He kept reliving Saturdays meeting in his mind: all those people, coming to him to learn Defence Against the Dark Arts . . . and the looks on their faces as they had heard some of the things he had done . . . and Cho praising his performance in the Triwizard Tournament - knowing all those people did not think him a lying weirdo, but someone to be admired, buoyed him up so much that he was still cheerful on Monday morning, despite the imminent prospect of all his least favourite classes.**

"Well it is a kind of well-deserved pick-me-up, if someone told me all of that I'd be over the moon for days," said Tonks. Harry nodded just listening to the chapter had made him feel so much better at the prospect of having to go back to Hogwarts, at least now he knew that not everyone thought he was a crazy, attention seeking prat.

**He and Ron headed downstairs from their dormitory, discussing Angelina's idea that they were to work on a new move called the Sloth Grip Roll **

Harry, Ron, Fred and George perked up at the mention of the new move and all four of them wondered what the move would work and who would be using it the most.

**during that nights Quidditch practice, and not until they were halfway across the sunlit common room did they notice the addition to the room that had already attracted the attention of a small group of people.**

"If this is another one of your advertisements to test your products on first years," growled Molly.

"It wouldn't have caused that much of a big deal if it was darling," replied Arthur as the Twins smiled innocently.

"Did you notice that she called them 'products' instead of rubbish Fred?" asked George.

"I did in deed George, she must be coming around to them," replied Fred.

"She'd probably still bin them," added George as Fred nodded and they both turned their attention back to the book.

**A large sign had been affixed to the Grffindor noticeboard, so large it covered everything else on it - the lists of secondhand spellbooks for sale, the regular reminders of school rules from Argus Filch, the Quidditch team training timetable, the offers to barter certain Chocolate Frog Cards for others, the Weasleys' latest advertisement for testers, **

Molly scowled at her sons.

**the dates of the Hogsmeade weekends and the lost and found notices. **

George whistled as Dedalus read off the list of things that were covered. "That would have to be," he trailed of drawing the shapes in the air as he pictured the notice board, "at least three quarters of the board," he finished looking slightly impressed, and he would have been more impressed had it not been covering his own advertisement.

**The new sign was printed in large black letters and there was a highly official-looking seal at the bottom beside a neat and curly signature.**

_**BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS**_

_**All student organisations, societies, teams, groups and clubs are**_

_**henceforth disbanded.**_

_**An organisation, society, team, group or club is hereby defined**_

_**as a regular meeting of three or more students.**_

_**Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor**_

_**(Professor Umbridge).**_

"Pity she had to be specific and say 'student organisations', you could have all stopped going to class until you asked for your classes to be re-formed," said Emmeline smirking slightly at the thought.

"That would have been hilarious to see," laughed Sirius. "I can just picture her face if that happened."

"How long do you think it would take for Hermione to crack if that happened?" whispered Ron, leaning over to Ginny and Harry.

"I bet she'd be itching to go back to class in a couple of days, remember in second year how disappointed she was when the exams were cancelled?" replied Harry laughing quietly.

"I know a couple of seventh years who would hold out longer than her," added Ginny indicating the Twins with a nod of her head.

"I know you're whispering about me," came Hermione's voice from the left. "What are you saying?" she asked as her eyes narrowed at her friends.

"Oh you know, just how long it would take you to crack," said Ron grinning broadly as Hermione glared at them and turned to face Dedalus in a huff.

"Aww," cooed Ginny in Ron's ear. "Isn't she adorable," she added giggling as Ron's ear proceeded to turn bright red. Of course while this was all happening Dedalus had continued to read and all four of them had missed the rest of the notice.

_**No student organisation, society, team, group or club may exist**_

_**without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.**_

_**Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an organisation,**_

_**society, team, group or club that has not been approved by**_

_**the High Inquisitor will be expelled.**_

Dumbledore frowned, it would seem that Fudge had instilled more power in Dolores than he had first thought, he already suspected that she would be watching his teachers and students like a hawk, but for her to have the power to expel them was worrying. Of course if his plan to have Remus as his Defence teacher this year was going to work, he would need to have some serious negotiations with the Ministry, and it would seem that he would have to add exactly how much power any High Inquisitor would have to the list of issues he needed to bring up with not only Fudge but the school board members as well.

_**The above is in accordance with Educational Decree**_

_**Number Twenty-four.**_

_**Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor**_

**Harry and Ron read the notice over the heads of some anxious-looking second-years.**

**'Does this mean they're going to shut down the Gobstones Club?' one of them asked his friend.**

Arthur chuckled at the pair of twelve years olds. It was nice to hear something normal going on within Hogwarts, even if it was something as simple as a Gobstones club.

**'I reckon you'll be Okay with Gobstones,' Ron said darkly, making the second-year jump. 'I don't think we're going to be as lucky, though, do you?' he asked Harry as the second-years hurried away.**

**Harry was reading the notice through again. The happiness that had filled him since Saturday was gone. His insides were pulsing with rage.**

Luna blinked, it really did sound painful, if her insides felt like that then well…it was no wonder that Harry was in such a bad mood all the time in the book.

**'This isn't a coincidence,' he said, his hands forming fists. 'She knows.'**

**'She can't,' said Ron at once.**

**There were people listening in that pub. And let's face it, we don't know how many of the people who turned up we can trust . . . any of them could have run off and told Umbridge . . .'**

**And he had thought they believed him, thought they even admired him . . .**

"Don't think that Harry, she had to have found out another way," said Emmeline frowning.

"Or she was already planning on doing it and she just unintentionally got your group," offered Hestia, though Harry (and many of the others) looked doubtful of the suggestion.

**'Zacharias Smith!' said Ron at once, punching a fist into his hand. 'Or - I thought that Michael Corner had a really shifty look, too - '**

"Ouch!" cried Ron suddenly, leaving the adults to look down and see him clutching his arm in pain. "What the bloody hell was that for Ginny?" he yelled looking at his sister who was red faced and glaring at him.

"Just because I'm dating him doesn't mean Michael would sell us out!" she yelled back crossing her arms defensively. Ron opened his mouth to argue that _he_ hadn't said anything but was interrupted by Molly,

"You two will stop that this instant or so help me…" she left the rest of the threat hanging. Molly Weasley had long since learnt that her children's imaginations came up with far better punishments than she could ever think of, so she was pleased when both Ron and Ginny immediately quietened down and glared at the floor. "Thank you," she said sternly before turning to Dedalus, who much like the rest of the Order was staring, in awe of her ability to handle her arguing children. "Could you please continue, or we'll be here all day and miss lunch like we did last night with dinner." Dedalus nodded, his mouth still hanging open before he realised she was actually talking to him, at which point he shook his head and started to read again.

**'I wonder if Hermione's seen this yet?' Harry said, looking round at the door to the girls' dormitories.**

**'Let's go and tell her,' said Ron. He bounded forwards, pulled open the door and set off up the spiral staircase.**

Sirius laughed at what was about to happen and he was soon joined by Remus and the rest of the females in the room.

"What's so funny?" asked Ron looking mildly put out.

"Boys aren't allowed in the girl's dormitory," Hermione explained giggling, "The staircase is going to collapse on you."

"What!" called out Ron in alarm, he vaguely recalled Percy telling them that they weren't allowed in the girl's dorms but the stairs were actually going to collapse?

"Not like that, oh just listen," laughed Hermione.

**He was on the sixth stair when there was a loud, wailing, klaxon-like sound and the steps melted together to make a long, smooth stone slide like a helter-skelter. There was a brief moment when Ron tried to keep running, arms working madly like windmills, then he toppled over backwards and shot down the newly created slide, coming to rest on his back at Harry's feet.**

"James and I once had a contest to see who could get the furthest up the stairs before they could turn into the slide," grinned Sirius.

"You two would do that," said Emmeline rolling her eyes. "Wait, was that the time when Marlene landed on you?" she added after a beat.

"Oh I remember that," laughed Remus.

"What happened?" asked Tonks giggling at her cousin's antics.

"Marlene was coming down just as Sirius was going up, he scared the living daylights out of her when he hit her and then of course the stairs collapsed and they both came sliding back down," replied Remus when he noticed the frown on Sirius's face, obviously this was something Sirius couldn't remember all that well.

"Who won?" asked Harry when he noticed the same thing. Sirius's expression cleared and his usual grin replaced it,

"Me, I was more than halfway up went I ran into Marly," he replied with only a hint of uncertainty.

**'Er - I don't think we're allowed in the girls' dormitories,' said Harry, pulling Ron to his feet and trying not to laugh.**

"Shut up Harry," grumbled Ron as his best friend snickered at him.

**Two fourth-year girls came zooming gleefully down the stone slide.**

**'Ooo, who tried to get upstairs?' they giggled happily, leaping to their feet and ogling Harry and Ron.**

**'Me,' said Ron, who was still rather dishevelled. 'I didn't realise that would happen. It's not fair!' he added to Harry, as the girls headed off for the portrait hole, still giggling madly. 'Hermione's allowed in our dormitory, how come we're not allowed - ?'**

"Technically Miss Granger is not meant to be in the boy's dormitory either," said Dumbledore as Hermione blushed. "I believe that originally, it was meant to prevent the less than trustworthy young men from having access to their female classmates."

"But girls can still enter the boys dorm," argued Bill.

"Yes but with the possibility of pregnancy, not many young women do, particularly in those times," replied Dumbledore.

**'Well, it's an old-fashioned rule,' said Hermione, who had just slid neatly on to a rug in front of them and was now getting to her feet, 'but it says in Hogwarts: A History, that the founders thought boys were less trustworthy than girls. Anyway, why were you trying to get in there?'**

**To see you - look at this!' said Ron, dragging her over to the noticeboard.**

**Hermione's eyes slid rapidly down the notice. Her expression became stony.**

**'Someone must have blabbed to her!' Ron said angrily.**

**'They can't have done,' said Hermione in a low voice.**

_So she had put a jinx on the parchment_ Hermione thought as she wrung her hands together _and now all of the adults will know_.

**'You're so naive,' said Ron, 'you think just because you're all honourable and trustworthy - '**

**'No, they can't have done, because I put a jinx on that piece of parchment we all signed,' said Hermione grimly. 'Believe me, if anyone's run off and told Umbridge, we'll know exactly who they are and they will really regret it.'**

"Hermione!" gapped Molly but found she could say no more, she was too shocked by what she had just heard. In fact that was the reaction of most of the room, bar Harry, Ron and Ginny all of whom knew what kind of lengths Hermione would go to when pushed.

"Headmaster, using jinxes on other students is against school rules," said Snape giving Hermione a calculated look.

"Indeed it is Severus but seeing as Miss Granger has not yet done so, there is little anyone can do about it," replied Dumbledore, his cheerful tone grating on Snape's nerves. Of course Dumbledore would find every possible loop whole to get out of punishing one of his favourite students. _Had it been one of the Slytherin's then there would have been some kind of punishment, but no, not for Dumbledore's precious_ _Golden Trio_, he thought bitterly to himself.

**'What'll happen to them?' said Ron eagerly.**

**'Well, put it this way,' said Hermione, 'it'll make Eloise Midgeon's acne look like a couple of cute freckles. **

"Wow, remind me not to blab," said Ginny, her eyes wide.

"Is it really that bad?" asked Tonks surprised.

"Not to be mean or anything, but her face is usually red and blotchy," replied Ginny, leaving Tonks to be thankful she could morph any and all blemishes away.

**Come on, let's get down to breakfast and see what the others think . . . I wonder whether this has been put up in all the houses?'**

**It was immediately apparent on entering the Great Hall that Umbridge's sign had not only appeared in Gryffindor Tower. There was a peculiar intensity about the chatter and an extra measure of movement in the Hall as people scurried up and down their tables conferring on what they had read. Harry, Ron and Hermione had barely taken their seats when Neville, Dean, Fred, George and Ginny descended upon them.**

**'Did you see it?'**

**'D'you reckon she knows?' **

"She will if you're all talking about it in the middle of the Great Hall!" cried Emmeline.

"Absolutely, nothing says 'look at us we're doing something wrong' than a group meeting in the middle of breakfast," agreed Sirius, equally alarmed.

**'What are we going to do?'**

**They were all looking at Harry. He glanced around to make sure there were no teachers near them.**

**'We're going to do it anyway, of course,' he said quietly.**

**'Knew you'd say that,' said George, beaming and thumping Harry on the arm.**

**The prefects as well?' said Fred, looking quizzically at Ron and Hermione.**

Ron glared at his brother but just as he was about to say something, his father beat him to it.

"Fred, just because your brother is a prefect doesn't mean he isn't committed to this group as you are and seeing as he was one of the ones to come up with the idea, I'd say he was more committed than you," chided Arthur.

**'Of course,' said Hermione coolly.**

**'Here come Ernie and Hannah Abbott,' said Ron, looking over his shoulder. 'And those Ravenclaw blokes and Smith . . . and no one looks very spotty.'**

"That's not the point if they come over then Umbridge will definitely know!" cried Hermione.

**Hermione looked alarmed.**

**'Never mind spots, the idiots can't come over here now, it'll look really suspicious - sit down!' she mouthed to Ernie and Hannah, gesturing frantically to them to rejoin the Hufflepuff table. 'Later! We'll - talk - to - you - later!'**

**'I'll tell Michael,' said Ginny impatiently, swinging herself off her bench, 'the fool, honestly . . .'**

**She hurried off towards the Ravenclaw table; Harry watched her go. Cho was sitting not far away, talking to the curly-haired friend she had brought along to the Hog's Head. Would Umbridge's notice scare her off meeting them again?**

"Probably not but it will scare her friend," said Bill wearily.

**But the full repercussions of the sign were not felt until they were leaving the Great Hall for History of Magic.**

**'Harry! Ron!'**

**It was Angelina and she was hurrying towards them looking perfectly desperate.**

**'It's OK,' said Harry quietly, when she was near enough to hear him. 'We're still going to - '**

**'You realise she's including Quidditch in this?' Angelina said over him. 'We have to go and ask permission to re-form the Gryffindor team!'**

"What!" cried the boys, Quidditch was such a big part of life at Hogwarts that they had forgotten that it was also a team and therefore qualified as being disbanded.

"She won't be able to keep them disbanded would she?" asked Fred uncertainly.

"She can't, they're too much of a part of the school year, so to speak," replied Hestia, who happened to be a great fan of the sport.

**'What?' said Harry.**

**'No way,' said Ron, appalled.**

**'You read the sign, it mentions teams too! So listen, Harry . . . I am saying this for the last time . . . please, please don't lose your temper with Umbridge again or she might not let us play anymore!'**

"She wouldn't be able to let one team play and not the others," said Hermione rolling her eyes at the desperate looks her two best friends were giving each other. _Honestly it's like they were just told someone died or something_, she thought to herself.

**'OK, OK,' said Harry, for Angelina looked as though she was on the verge of tears. 'Don't worry, I'll behave myself . . .'**

**'Bet Umbridge is in History of Magic,' said Ron grimly, as they set off for Binns's lesson. 'She hasn't inspected Binns yet . . . bet you anything she's there . . .'**

"I don't think she'd be interested in inspecting Binns, since he's a ghost I doubt she'd be able to do anything about him," said Remus.

"He probably wouldn't even see her," added Luna.

**But he was wrong; the only teacher present when they entered was Professor Binns, floating an inch or so above his chair as usual and preparing to continue his monotonous drone on giant wars. **

"Sounds like fun," said Tonks before involuntarily yawning, blushing and then proceeding to smack Remus and Sirius for laughing at her.

**Harry did not even attempt to follow what he was saying today; he doodled idly on his parchment ignoring Hermione's frequent glares and nudges, until a particularly painful poke in the ribs made him look up angrily.**

"Calm down Hermione it's just History of Magic," cried Harry defensively as Hermione smiled at him sheepishly.

**'What?'**

**She pointed at the window. Harry looked round. Hedwig was perched on the narrow window ledge, gazing through the thick glass at him, a letter tied to her leg. Harry could not understand it; they had just had breakfast, why on earth hadn't she delivered the letter then, as usual? Many of his classmates were pointing out Hedwig to each other, too.**

**'Oh, I've always loved that owl, she's so beautiful,' Harry heard Lavender sigh to Parvati.**

"She _is_ beautiful," remarked Ginny.

"Thanks," mumbled Harry in reply.

**He glanced round at Professor Binns who continued to read his notes, serenely unaware that the class's attention was even less focused upon him than usual. Harry slipped quietly off his chair, crouched down and hurried along the row to the window, where he slid the catch and opened it very slowly.**

"He probably wouldn't notice if you did it loudly," said Ron grinning.

**He had expected Hedwig to hold out her leg so that he could remove the letter and then fly off to the Owlery, but the moment the window was open wide enough she hopped inside, hooting dolefully. **

Harry frowned, Hedwig never lingered after she delivered a letter, well, she'd eat some toast if they were at breakfast, but she'd been late and she was sad,

"What's the matter with her?" he wondered anxiously.

**He closed the window with an anxious glance at Professor Binns, crouched low again and sped back to his seat with Hedwig on his shoulder. He regained his seat, transferred Hedwig to his lap and made to remove the letter tied to her leg.**

**Only then did he realise that Hedwig's feathers were oddly ruffled; some were bent the wrong way, and she was holding one of her wings at an odd angle.**

"She's hurt," said Harry gasping, _why would she be hurt, she'd only flown from London and she'd flown further before. What if she ran into something, or came across another owl or a hunter or something, what if…_Harry closed his eyes as he felt Ginny squeezing his hand in an effort to calm his thoughts. She didn't say anything but when Harry caught her eye she gave him a small comforting smile. Harry took a deep breath. _Hedwig is fine, this hasn't even happened yet,_ he reminded himself.

**'She's hurt!' Harry whispered, bending his head low over her. Hermione and Ron leaned in closer; Hermione even put down her quill. 'Look - there's something wrong with her wing - '**

**Hedwig was quivering; when Harry made to touch the wing she gave a little jump, all her feathers on end as though she was inflating herself, and gazed at him reproachfully.**

"It must be broken," said Remus grimly as Harry glared at the book, angry that someone had hurt his owl.

"But who would do that?" asked Molly.

"I can think of someone," Sirius muttered darkly.

**'Professor Binns,' said Harry loudly, and everyone in the class turned to look at him. 'I'm not feeling well.'**

**Professor Binns raised his eyes from his notes, looking amazed, as always, to find the room in front of him full of people.**

"I think he forgets sometimes, maybe there are Wrackspurts in his office," commented Luna airily, earning a few scattered chuckles from around the room which in turn took the icy edge off the tension that had flooded the room with Hedwig's injury.

**'Not feeling well?' he repeated hazily.**

**'Not at all well,' said Harry firmly, getting to his feet with Hedwig concealed behind his back. 'I think I need to go to the hospital wing.'**

**'Yes,' said Professor Binns, clearly very much wrong-footed. 'Yes . . . yes, hospital wing . . . well, off you go, then, Perkins . . .'**

"Perkins?" asked Sirius, then turning to Remus he added, "Didn't he call James 'Perkins' as well?"

"Yeah, but rumour has it that he hasn't learnt the names of his students since he died, he just keeps reusing the names of his last lot of students," Remus replied. It was amazing what you could find out in the staff room, the teachers were almost bigger gossips than the portraits, and most of them were privy to firsthand information depending on where they were hung.

**Once outside the room, Harry returned Hedwig to his shoulder and hurried off up the corridor, pausing to think only when he was out of sight of Binns's door. His first choice of somebody to cure Hedwig would have been Hagrid, of course, but as he had no idea where Hagrid was his only remaining option was to find Professor Grubbly-Plank and hope she would help.**

"Professor Grubbly-Plank is as every much gifted in the care of magical and non-magical creature as Hagrid is Harry, your owl will be treated with the utmost care," said Dumbledore smiling at the teenager across the room. Well, to the others that where it looked like his gaze was directed, but Harry could tell Dumbledore was looking at the space above his head and it did nothing to reassure him, or make him feel better.

**He peered out of a window at the blustery, overcast grounds. There was no sign of her anywhere near Hagrid's cabin; if she was not teaching, she was probably in the staff room. He set off downstairs, Hedwig hooting feebly as she swayed on his shoulder.**

**Two stone gargoyles flanked the staff-room door. As Harry approached, one of them croaked, 'You should be in class, Sonny Jim.'**

**This is urgent,' said Harry curtly.**

**'Ooooh, urgent, is it?' said the other gargoyle in a high-pitched voice. 'Well, that's put us in our place, hasn't it?'**

"I used to have the best conversations with those Gargoyles," laughed Sirius, "they're almost as much to mess with as the shrivelled heads in the Three Broomsticks," he added laughing again as Emmeline rolled her eyes.

**Harry knocked. He heard footsteps, then the door opened and he found himself face to face with Professor McGonagall.**

**'You haven't been given another detention!' she said at once, her square spectacles flashing alarmingly.**

"No, thank heavens," sighed Hestia.

**'No, Professor!' said Harry hastily.**

**'Well then, why are you out of class?'**

**'It's urgent, apparently,' said the second gargoyle snidely.**

**'I'm looking for Professor Grubbly-Plank,' Harry explained. 'It's my owl, she's injured.'**

**'Injured owl, did you say?'**

**Professor Grubbly-Plank appeared at Professor McGonagall's shoulder, smoking a pipe and holding a copy of the Daily Prophet.**

**'Yes,' said Harry, lifting Hedwig carefully off his shoulder, 'she turned up after the other post owls and her wing's all funny, look - '**

**Professor Grubbly-Plank stuck her pipe firmly between her teeth and took Hedwig from Harry while Professor McGonagall watched.**

**'Hmm,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank, her pipe waggling slightly as she talked. 'Looks like something's attacked her. Can't think what would have done it, though. Thestrals will sometimes go for birds, of course, but Hagrid's got the Hogwarts Thestrals well-trained not to touch owls.'**

**Harry neither knew nor cared what Thestrals were; he just wanted to know that Hedwig was going to be all right. Professor McGonagall, however, looked sharply at Harry and said, 'Do you know how far this owl's travelled, Potter?'**

**'Er,' said Harry. 'From London, I think.'**

**He met her eyes briefly and knew, by the way her eyebrows had joined in the middle, that she understood 'London' to mean 'number twelve, Grimmauld Place'.**

"Good, at least that way she can get a message to us that we need to be more careful," commented Sirius as the other Order members nodded.

**Professor Grubbly-Plank pulled a monocle out of the inside of her robes and screwed it into her eye, to examine Hedwig's wing closely. **

"That sounds almost as unpleasant as what Mad-Eye does," said Tonks wrinkling her nose.

**'I should be able to sort this out if you leave her with me, Potter,' she said, 'she shouldn't be flying long distances for a few days, in any case.'**

**'Er - right - thanks,' said Harry, just as the bell rang for break.**

Luna sniggered, "You have to like her now," she said smiling widely at Harry's pouting face.

"Only because she's looking after Hedwig, not because I like her as a teacher," he defended sounding like a small child, which in turn caused the rest of the room to laugh.

**'No problem,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank gruffly, turning back into the staff room.**

**'Just a moment, Wilhelmina!' said Professor McGonagall. 'Potter's letter!'**

**'Oh yeah!' said Harry, who had momentarily forgotten the scroll tied to Hedwig's leg. **

"Well that could have been potentially disastrous," said Dedalus, looking momentarily up from the book in his lap.

"It's not like anybody has seen it already," replied Hestia sarcastically.

**Professor Grubbly-Plank handed it over and then disappeared into the staff room carrying Hedwig, who was staring at Harry as though unable to believe he would give her away like this. Feeling slightly guilty, he turned to go, but Professor McGonagall called him back.**

"Seriously Harry, you're getting guilt tripped by an owl?" laughed Fred.

**'Potter!'**

**'Yes, Professor?'**

**She glanced up and down the corridor; there were students coming from both directions.**

**'Bear in mind,' she said quickly and quietly, her eyes on the scroll in his hand, 'that channels of communication in and out of Hogwarts may be being watched, won't you?'**

**'I - ' said Harry, but the flood of students rolling along the corridor was almost upon him. Professor McGonagall gave him a curt nod and retreated into the staff room, leaving Harry to be swept out into the courtyard with the crowd. He spotted Ron and Hermione already standing in a sheltered corner, their cloak collars turned up against the wind. Harry slit open the scroll as he hurried towards them and found five words in Sirius's handwriting:**

_**Today, same time, same place.**_

"That's very risky Sirius, anyone would be able to work that out," said Emmeline worriedly.

"I'll be fine love," Sirius whispered in reply, and then with the boyish grin which reminded Emmeline why she was in love with him, he added, "Besides this hasn't happened yet."

"Cheeky," she muttered in reply, her ruby red lips twisting into a pout, that once again made Sirius want to snog the living daylights out of her.

**'Is Hedwig OK?' asked Hermione anxiously, the moment he was within earshot.**

**'Where did you take her?' asked Ron.**

**'To Grubbly-Plank,' said Harry. 'And I met McGonagall . . . listen . . .'**

**And he told them what Professor McGonagall had said. To his surprise, neither of the others looked shocked. On the contrary, they exchanged significant looks.**

"Will you two stop having conversations without me!" cried Harry.

"I will when you stop doing the same with Ron," replied Hermione sharply.

"Come on mate, I know you do the same with Hermione," added Ron as he raised an eyebrow.

**'What?' said Harry, looking from Ron to Hermione and back again.**

**'Well, I was just saying to Ron . . . what if someone had tried to intercept Hedwig? I mean, she's never been hurt on a flight before, has she?'**

**'Who's the letter from, anyway?' asked Ron, taking the note from Harry.**

**'Snuffles,' said Harry quietly.**

**'"Same time, same place?" Does he mean the fire in the common room?'**

"Don't say it out loud Ron, you never know who's listening!" cried Arthur.

"Sorry," mumbled Ron, his ears going red. _Why couldn't he ever do anything right?_

"Don't worry about it, you're not the only one in this room that has let something slip in a less than ideal place," said Remus, smiling kindly as he watched the red in Ron's ears recede. Ron smiled back and nodded feeling somewhat better as he felt the knot in his throat loosen.

**'Obviously,' said Hermione, also reading the note. She looked uneasy. 'I just hope nobody else has read this . . .'**

**'But it was still sealed and everything,' said Harry, trying to convince himself as much as her. 'And nobody would understand what it meant if they didn't know where we'd spoken to him before, would they?'**

"It's honestly not too hard to work out, especially since Umbridge is already watching the communication channels coming in and out of Hogwarts," said Tonks.

"Is she even allowed to do that?" asked Ginny looking over at Dumbledore.

"I don't see anyone stopping her," grumbled Harry.

'**I don't know,' said Hermione anxiously, hitching her bag back over her shoulder as the bell rang again, 'it wouldn't be exactly difficult to re-seal the scroll by magic . . . and if anyone's watching the Floo Network . . . but I don't really see how we can warn him not to come without that being intercepted, too!'**

"You can't, that's the point," mumbled Sirius. Though he had to admit it was a good strategy, on one hand, Harry writes another message to warn him, Umbridge gets a hold of it and suddenly the Boy Who Lived is linked to mass murderer Sirius Black. On the other hand, Harry doesn't get a message out and the meeting still happens, Umbridge catches them, Harry and probably Ron and Hermione are expelled and he is turned over to the Dementors. Sirius however was banking on the idea that Umbridge didn't catch him at all, he would have to think of another way to contact Harry but both of them would be where they needed to be.

**They trudged down the stone steps to the dungeons for Potions, all three of them, lost in thought, but as they reached the bottom of the steps they were recalled to themselves by the voice of Draco Malfoy, who was standing just outside Snape's classroom door, waving around an official-looking piece of parchment and talking much louder than was necessary so that they could hear every word.**

Arthur rolled his eyes, how like a Malfoy, they always did have too much of sense of their own importance, which was a nice way of saying that they were all cocky bastards.

**'Yeah, Umbridge gave the Slytherin Quidditch team permission to continue playing straightaway, I went to ask her first thing this morning. Well, it was pretty much automatic, I mean, she knows my father really well, he's always popping in and out of the Ministry . . . it'll be interesting to see whether Gryffindor are allowed to keep playing, won't it?'**

"Of course they will there's no way for her to stop them from reforming, it would be completely unfair and none of the staff would stand for it," said Hestia, trying to sound reassuring.

**'Don't rise,' Hermione whispered imploringly to Harry and Ron, who were both watching Malfoy, faces set and fists clenched. 'It's what he wants.'**

**'I mean,' said Malfoy, raising his voice a little more, his grey eyes glittering malevolently in Harry and Ron's direction, 'if it's a question of influence with the Ministry, I don't think they've got much chance . . . from what my father says, they've been looking for an excuse to sack Arthur Weasley for years . . . and as for Potter . . .**

Dedalus's voice became darker and darker as he read through the passage, he could hear some of the others trying not to get too vocal in their protests, but that didn't stop the rumbling that came from Sirius and Remus as he continued reading.

**my father says it's a matter of time before the Ministry has him carted off to St Mungo's . . . apparently they've got a special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic.'**

**Malfoy made a grotesque face, his mouth sagging open and his eyes rolling. Crabbe and Goyle gave their usual grunts of laughter; Pansy Parkinson shrieked with glee.**

"That horrid child," growled Molly "How dare he make fun of the disabled," she fumed as her eyes (along with everyone's in the room, including Snape's) narrowed in disapproval.

**Something collided hard with Harry's shoulder, knocking him sideways. A split second later he realised that Neville had just charged past him, heading straight for Malfoy.**

"Oh no," whispered Emmeline

"I don't understand though, why would Neville attack Malfoy?" asked Hermione.

"Wait, didn't Moody say something before about Neville's parents?" Ron asked her in a whisper.

Hermione's eyes widened, "You don't think?" she asked trailing off as Ron nodded sadly.

**'Neville, no!'**

**Harry leapt forward and seized the back of Neville's robes; Neville struggled frantically, his fists flailing, trying desperately to get at Malfoy who looked, for a moment, extremely shocked.**

"Well you would too if the most timid boy in your year tried to punch you in the face," snickered Fred.

**'Help me!' Harry flung at Ron, managing to get an arm around Neville's neck and dragging him backwards, away from the Slytherins. Crabbe and Goyle were flexing their arms as they stepped in front of Malfoy, ready for the fight. Ron seized Neville's arms, and together he and Harry succeeded in dragging Neville back into the Gryffindor line. Nevilles face was scarlet; the pressure Harry was exerting on his throat rendered him quite incomprehensible, but odd words spluttered from his mouth.**

**'Not . . . funny . . . don't . . . Mungo's . . . show . . . him . . .'**

"That poor boy," whispered Molly sadly.

**The dungeon door opened. Snape appeared there. His black eyes swept up the Gryffindor line to the point where Harry and Ron were wrestling with Neville.**

**'Fighting, Potter, Weasley, Longbottom?' Snape said in his cold, sneering voice. 'Ten points from Gryffindor. Release Longbottom, Potter, or it will be detention. Inside, all of you.'**

"I'm going to assume that if you had heard the conversation and seen that Harry and Ron where holding Neville back, you would be giving Draco and his friends a stern talking to about sensitivity and respect," scowled Molly her gaze locked onto Snape.

"Of course, that kind of behaviour has no place anywhere let alone a school," he replied curtly, surprising most of the room, apparently he wasn't a heartless bastard after all.

**Harry let go of Neville, who stood panting and glaring at him.**

**'I had to stop you,' Harry gasped, picking up his bag. 'Crabbe and Goyle would've torn you apart.'**

**Neville said nothing; he merely snatched up his own bag and stalked off into the dungeon.**

**'What in the name of Merlin,' said Ron slowly, as they followed Neville, 'was that about?'**

"I guess we know now," whispered Ginny thinking about the sweet boy that had taken her to the Yule Ball.

**Harry did not answer. He knew exactly why the subject of people who were in St Mungo's because of magical damage to their brains was highly distressing to Neville, but he had sworn to Dumbledore that he would not tell anyone Neville's secret. Even Neville did not know Harry knew.**

Several of the teenagers gasped, "I trust that you will keep this information to yourself, until the time the Mr Longbottom feels the he is ready to tell you," said Dumbledore, gaining the same vow that Harry had given him the year before from each of the teenagers.

**Harry, Ron and Hermione took their usual seats at the back of the class, pulled out parchment, quills and their copies of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. The class around them was whispering about what Neville had just done, but when Snape closed the dungeon door with an echoing bang, everybody immediately fell silent.**

**'You will notice,' said Snape, in his low, sneering voice, 'that we have a guest with us today.'**

Snape groaned, _of course that stupid woman would come to my class while Potter is there_ he thought as he once again glared at the book and Dedalus's hands. He could hear Sirius cackling away to his little girlfriend, apparently thoroughly entertained at the idea of Snape having to deal with the witch, _well small minds as they say_ he thought, a wicked smile almost touching his lips.

**He gestured towards the dim corner of the dungeon and Harry saw Professor Umbridge sitting there, clipboard on her knee. He glanced sideways at Ron and Hermione, his eyebrows raised. Snape and Umbridge, the two teachers he hated most. It was hard to decide which one he wanted to triumph over the other.**

"Snape, definitely," decided Harry grinning at the man across the room. Snape looked confused for a moment then decided that it would be best to glare back at Harry. Harry almost laughed at his reaction, _so that's why older me does that_ he thought to himself.

**'We are continuing with our Strengthening Solution today. You will find your mixtures as you left them last lesson; it correctly made they should have matured well over the weekend - instructions - ' he waved his wand again ' - on the board. Carry on.'**

**Professor Umbridge spent the first half hour of the lesson making notes in her corner. Harry was very interested in hearing her question Snape; so interested, that he was becoming careless with his potion again.**

**'Salamander blood, Harry!' Hermione moaned, grabbing his wrist to prevent him adding the wrong ingredient for the third time, 'not pomegranate juice!'**

"Honestly Potter pay attention to what you are meant to be doing and you actually might do it correctly," sneered Snape.

"Thanks for the advice Professor," replied Harry grinning again, he had no idea why, but the thought of Umbridge taking on Snape just seemed to put him in a good mood, though that could be because Snape was in such a bad one.

"What was that about?" asked Ron quietly.

"Older me gets a kick out of winding Snape up, why can't I?" he replied shrugging.

"Err maybe because older you could actually win against Snape in a fight?" suggested Ron as Hermione rolled her eyes next to him.

"Cause it's funny," amended Harry before turning back to the book.

**'Right,' said Harry vaguely, putting down the bottle and continuing to watch the corner. Umbridge had just got to her feet. 'Ha,' he said softly, as she strode between two lines of desks towards Snape, who was bending over Dean Thomas's cauldron.**

**'Well, the class seem fairly advanced for their level,' she said briskly to Snape's back. 'Though I would question whether it is advisable to teach them a potion like the Strengthening Solution. I think the Ministry would prefer it if that was removed from the syllabus.'**

**Snape straightened up slowly and turned to look at her.**

Snape muttered something under his breath glaring at the book.

"Now Severus, I'd ask you if that was a bit harsh, but I wouldn't blame you if you tried," said Remus, "I'd probably help you actually," he added, lips twitching at whatever it was Snape had said. Snape glared at Remus but didn't answer.

**'Now . . . how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?' she asked, her quill poised over her clipboard.**

**'Fourteen years,' Snape replied. His expression was unfathomable. Harry, watching him closely, added a few drops to his potion; it hissed menacingly and turned from turquoise to orange.**

**'You applied first for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?' Professor Umbridge asked Snape.**

**'Yes,' said Snape quietly.**

There were several snickers coming from various places around the room. Sirius had his fist in his mouth to stop himself from laughing, the Twins were both sporting mega-watt smiles and Ron and Ginny were laughing as much as Harry who's laughter seemed to be infectious. Snape of course was glaring at the book as Dedalus cleared his throat to calm the others so he could keep reading.

**'But you were unsuccessful?'**

**Snape's lip curled.**

**'Obviously.'**

Harry couldn't help it; a gurgling of laughter escaped his lips before he could stop it. He clasped his hand over his mouth but he couldn't stop his laughter from escaping as he imagined the look on Snape's face, but then he looked up and realised he didn't have to because the same look was on Snape's face now. Soon nearly all of the teenagers were in stitches, laughing at something that wasn't even that funny. _Maybe Voldemort took a happy pill or something_ Harry thought as he tried to take a deep breath.

**Professor Umbridge scribbled on her clipboard.**

**'And you have applied regularly for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post since you first joined the school, I believe?'**

**'Yes,' said Snape quietly, barely moving his lips. He looked very angry.**

**'Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has consistently refused to appoint you?' asked Umbridge.**

**'I suggest you ask him,' said Snape jerkily.**

Ginny giggled again as she watched Harry grinning to himself, his sudden change of mood seemed to have released most of the tension in the room.

**'Oh, I shall,' said Professor Umbridge, with a sweet smile.**

**'I suppose this is relevant?' Snape asked, his black eyes narrowed.**

**'Oh yes,' said Professor Umbridge, 'yes, the Ministry wants a thorough understanding of teachers' - er - backgrounds.'**

**She turned away, walked over to Pansy Parkinson and began questioning her about the lessons. Snape looked round at Harry and their eyes met for a second. Harry hastily dropped his gaze to his potion, which was now congealing foully and giving off a strong smell of burned rubber.**

Snape rolled his eyes, the boy had the same attention span as his father, which was to say it was about the same as a cocker spaniel.

**'No marks again, then, Potter,' said Snape maliciously, emptying Harry's cauldron with a wave of his wand. 'You will write me an essay on the correct composition of this potion, indicating how and why you went wrong, to be handed in next lesson, do you understand?'**

"Don't take it out on Harry," growled Sirius, his light hearted mood ruined by book-Snape, he also hadn't missed the fact that Snape had once again vanished Harry's potion.

"Leave it Sirius," murmured Harry, his bubbling laughter dissipating along with his light-hearted mood.

"No Harry, you shouldn't have to put up with his behaviour," argued Sirius as he moved to get up.

"I said leave it," snapped Harry glaring at his godfather.

Sirius raised his hands in surrender and sunk back into his seat, his steely gaze coming to rest on his godson. He wasn't going to let Harry get away with talking to him like that, but his issues with Snape were obviously not something that Harry wanted to get into in the crowded drawing room, especially with Snape in the room. Sirius nodded, watching as Harry did the same, his expression clearing, they would talk about it later. Dedalus took this as an opportunity to draw people's attention back to the book and away from Harry and Sirius, though Snape couldn't resist sending Sirius a sly smirk before he returned his attention to Dedalus.

**'Yes,' said Harry furiously. Snape had already given them homework and he had Quidditch practice this evening; this would mean another couple of sleepless nights. It did not seem possible that he had awoken that morning feeling very happy. All he felt now was a fervent desire for this day to end.**

**'Maybe I'll skive off Divination,' he said glumly, as they stood in the courtyard after lunch, the wind whipping at the hems of robes and brims of hats. 'I'll pretend to be ill and do Snape's essay instead, then I won't have to stay up half the night.'**

**'You can't skive off Divination,' said Hermione severely.**

**'Hark who's talking, you walked out of Divination, you hate Trelawney!' said Ron indignantly.**

**'I don't hate her,' said Hermione loftily. 'I just think she's an absolutely appalling teacher and a real old fraud. But Harry's already missed History of Magic and I don't think he ought to miss anything else today!'**

"I'm probably going to fail Divination anyway, it's not like I'm going to miss anything important," complained Harry as he thought about all of that work ahead of him.

"You never know Harry, it could be the most important lesson you'll ever have," argued Hermione who flushed when both Harry and Ron stared at her critically. "Oh you know what I mean, the more you miss the more you have to catch up on," she added scowling.

"Blimey Hermione, why didn't you just say that in the first place," laughed Ron, dodging a pillow as she swung it at him.

**There was too much truth in this to ignore, so half an hour later Harry took his seat in the hot, overperfumed atmosphere of the Divination classroom, feeling angry at everybody. Professor Trelawney was yet again handing out copies of The Dream Oracle. Harry thought he'd surely be much better employed doing Snape's**

**punishment essay than sitting here trying to find meaning in a lot of made-up dreams.**

"Well maybe this time you'll actually record some actual dreams," sniffed Molly.

**It seemed, however, that he was not the only person in Divination who was in a temper. Professor Trelawney slammed a copy of the Oracle down on the table between Harry and Ron and swept away, her lips pursed; she threw the next copy of the Oracle at Seamus and Dean, narrowly avoiding Seamus's head, and thrust the final one into Neville's chest with such force that he slipped off his pouffe.**

"Maybe she found the nest or Nargles in her office," suggested Luna.

"Or her evaluation from Umbridge came back," replied Fred, and this seemed to be the more logical answer.

**'Well, carry on!' said Professor Trelawney loudly, her voice high-pitched and somewhat hysterical, 'you know what to do! Or am I such a sub-standard teacher that you have never learned how to open a book?'**

"Yeah, I'd say her evaluation came back and by the sounds of it, it wasn't very good," snorted Tonks.

**The class stared perplexedly at her, then at each other. Harry, however, thought he knew what was the matter. As Professor Trelawney flounced back to the high-backed teachers chair, her magnified eyes full of angry tears, he leaned his head closer to Ron's and muttered, 'I think she's got the results of her inspection back.'**

**'Professor?' said Parvati Patil in a hushed voice (she and Lavender had always rather admired Professor Trelawney). 'Professor, is there anything - er - wrong?'**

**'Wrong!' cried Professor Trelawney in a voice throbbing with emotion. 'Certainly not! I have been insulted, certainly . . . insinuations have been made against me . . . unfounded accusations levelled . . . but no, there is nothing wrong, certainly not!'**

**She took a great shuddering breath and looked away from Parvati, angry tears spilling from under her glasses.**

"My, she is worked up," said Hestia.

"Yes, Sybil has always been a little touchy on her abilities as a seer, and she does not take scepticism well," said Dumbledore, shaking his head at the woman's actions. Hermione nodded knowing full well how Trelawney acted when someone called her into question.

**'I say nothing,' she choked, 'of sixteen years of devoted service . . . it has passed, apparently, unnoticed . . . but I shall not be insulted, no, I shall not!'**

**'But, Professor, who's insulting you?' asked Parvati timidly.**

**The Establishment!' said Professor Trelawney, in a deep, dramatic, wavering voice. 'Yes, those with eyes too clouded by the mundane to See as I See, to Know as I Know . . . of course, we Seers have always been feared, always persecuted . . . it is - alas - 'our fate.'**

"She likes the dramatics doesn't she," commented Bill.

**She gulped, dabbed at her wet cheeks with the end of her shawl, then she pulled a small embroidered handkerchief from her sleeve, and blew her nose very hard with a sound like Peeves blowing a raspberry.**

Fred and George sniggered as Dedalus turned the page.

**Ron sniggered. Lavender shot him a disgusted look.**

**'Professor,' said Parvati, 'do you mean . . . is it something Professor Umbridge - ?'**

**'Do not speak to me about that woman!' cried Professor Trelawney leaping to her feet, her beads rattling and her spectacles flashing. 'Kindly continue with your work!'**

**And she spent the rest of the lesson striding among them, tears still leaking from behind her glasses, muttering what sounded like threats under her breath.**

**'…may well choose to leave…the indignity of it…on probation…we shall see…how she dares…'**

**'You and Umbridge have got something in common,' Harry told Hermione quietly when they met again in Defence Against the Dark Arts. 'She obviously reckons Trelawney's an old fraud, too . . . looks like she's put her on probation.'**

"Yes and it's the only thing I will ever have in common with that toad," muttered Hermione under her breath.

**Umbridge entered the room as he spoke, wearing her black velvet bow and an expression of great smugness.**

**'Good afternoon, class.'**

**'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge,' they chanted dully.**

**'Wands away, please.'**

**But there was no answering flurry of movement this time; nobody had bothered to take out their wands.**

**'Please turn to page thirty-four of Defensive Magical Theory and read the third chapter, entitled "The Case for Non-Offensive Responses to Magical Attack". There will be - '**

**' - no need to talk,' Harry, Ron and Hermione said together, under their breaths.**

"At least we don't have to listen to the lesson," said Dedalus as he looked ahead to the next paragraph.

"Well that's good, I don't know how much more of that woman I could handle in one day," said Tonks breathing a sigh of relief as Sirius, Remus and Emmeline chuckled at her comment.

**'No Quidditch practice,' said Angelina in hollow tones when Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the common room after dinner that night.**

**'But I kept my temper!' said Harry, horrified. 'I didn't say anything to her, Angelina, I swear, I - '**

**'I know, I know, said Angelina miserably. 'She just said she needed a bit of time to consider.'**

**'Consider what?' said Ron angrily. 'She's given the Slytherins permission, why not us?'**

"Because she likes the idea of having something hanging over your heads to make you obedient," said Bill darkly.

**But Harry could imagine how much Umbridge was enjoying holding the threat of no Gryffindor Quidditch team over their heads and could easily understand why she would not want to relinquish that weapon over them too soon.**

**'Well,' said Hermione, 'look on the bright side - at least now you'll have time to do Snape's essay!'**

'**That's a bright side, is it?' snapped Harry, while Ron stared incredulously at Hermione. 'No Quidditch practice, and extra Potions?'**

"When is that ever going to be a bright side?" asked Ron sarcastically.

"When you haven't got another detention for not finishing it in time," retorted Hermione.

**Harry slumped down into a chair, dragged his Potions essay reluctantly from his bag and set to work. It was very hard to concentrate; even though he knew Sirius was not due in the fire until much later, he could not help glancing into the flames every few minutes just in case. **

"It's not likely I'm going to come early Harry, especially not if the common room is still full," said Sirius rolling his eyes good naturedly. Harry smiled back tentatively, glad that his godfather wasn't too mad at him for snapping at him.

**There was also an incredible amount of noise in the room: Fred and George appeared finally to have perfected one type of Skiving Snackbox, which they were taking turns to demonstrate to a cheering and whooping crowd.**

Molly resisted groaning and didn't say anything, the Snackboxes were either going to sell or they weren't, and if they didn't, she wasn't going to say 'I told you so', but if they did well…she didn't know what she would do.

**First, Fred would take a bite out of the orange end of a chew, at which he would vomit spectacularly into a bucket they had placed in front of them. Then he would force down the purple end of the chew, at which the vomiting would immediately cease. Lee Jordan, who was assisting the demonstration, was lazily Vanishing the vomit at regular intervals with the same Vanishing Spell Snape kept using on Harry's potions.**

"That can't be good for your teeth," said Hermione.

"Yeah, that one's taking a bit of research because we have to work around all of the stomach acid," said George nodding.

"You mean you're still working on it now?" asked Bill surprised.

"Yep, we're working on how we can do it without leaving the consumer actually sick, you know 'cause vomiting just leaves you exhausted," added Fred, surprising most of the room by just how much effort the Twins were actually putting into their future business.

**What with the regular sounds of retching, cheering and the sound of Fred and George taking advance orders from the crowd, Harry was finding it exceptionally difficult to focus on the correct method for Strengthening Solution. Hermione was not helping matters; the cheers and the sound of vomit hitting the bottom of Fred and George's bucket were punctuated by her loud and disapproving sniffs, which Harry found, if anything, more distracting.**

Hermione flushed and looked at Harry apologetically but he just shrugged and smiled at her in response, waving off her concerns.

**'Just go and stop them, then!' he said irritably, after crossing out the wrong weight of powdered griffin claw for the fourth time.**

**'I can't, they're not technically doing anything wrong,' said Hermione through gritted teeth. They're quite within their rights to eat the foul things themselves and I can't find a rule that says the other idiots aren't entitled to buy them, not unless they're proven to be dangerous in some way and it doesn't look as though they are.'**

"Nope all Weasley products are one hundred per cent safe," grinned George.

"Just don't eat the wrong end when you've got a nose bleed," quipped Arthur giving his sons a stern look. Both of the boys flushed and sent their father a sheepish grin.

"Ninety-nine per cent safe," amended Fred.

**She, Harry and Ron watched George projectile-vomit into the bucket, gulp down the rest of the chew and straighten up, beaming with his arms wide to protracted applause.**

**'You know, I don't get why Fred and George only got three OWLs each,' said Harry, watching as Fred, George and Lee collected gold from the eager crowd. They really know their stuff.'**

"Of course we do," said the Twins at the same time.

**'Oh, they only know flashy stuff that's of no real use to anyone,' said Hermione disparagingly.**

"Are you kidding? Do you even know how much work goes into making those, not to mention all of the extra stuff we had to learn to make them eatable?" cried Fred indignantly.

"Yeah and technically we got six OWLs each because we each focused on three subjects and then taught each other everything we knew," added George.

"What, so you spent half your time studying and the other half working on your business?" asked Tonks curiously.

"Exactly, we knew we wanted to spend our last year doing market research, like we are in the book, and it's not like Hogwarts offers a business and marketing course or anything," replied Fred.

**'No real use?' said Ron in a strained voice. 'Hermione, they've made about twenty-six Galleons already.'**

"Wow, and from what I can tell that's only from one product," commented Dedalus as he looked closer at the page. Molly's eyes widened. Had her boys really made that much money from one product?

**It was a long while before the crowd around the Weasley twins dispersed, then Fred, Lee and George sat up counting their takings even longer, so it was well past midnight when Harry, Ron and Hermione finally had the common room to themselves. At long last, Fred had closed the doorway to the boys' dormitories behind him, rattling his box of Galleons ostentatiously so that Hermione scowled. Harry, who was making very little progress with his Potions essay, decided to give it up for the night. As he put his books away, Ron, who was dozing lightly in an armchair, gave a muffled grunt, awoke, and looked blearily into the fire.**

**'Sirius!' he said.**

**Harry whipped round. Sirius's untidy dark head was sitting in the fire again.**

**'Hi,' he said, grinning.**

Emmeline blinked and suddenly found herself back in the library on that rainy night the first time she and Sirius…she blinked again and the image behind her eyes vanished. It was strange the way that simple greeting could make her remember so much. Of course that was the same greeting he'd given her all those years ago, but it was strange that the same greeting (said by Sirius in a book and not in his own voice by the way) could stir up all of those lingering feelings. She looked up at the man sitting next to her listening so intently to the story being read to them and wondered how this man had managed to work his way back into her heart in just a few days. She had still been attracted to him before then of course, but it wasn't until the book that she had really let herself feel it and now she never wanted to let him go. Emmeline sighed and snuggled closer to Sirius, resting her head back on his shoulder. She watched silently as he shifted to rest his hand on her leg so his fingers were pressed inbetween the flesh just above her knees, Emmeline smiled slightly at his seemingly unconscious move before turning her attention back to the book, missing the teasing look that both Tonks and Remus were sending Sirius's way.

**'Hi,' chorused Harry, Ron and Hermione, all three kneeling down on the hearthrug. Crookshanks purred loudly and approached the fire, trying, despite the heat, to put his face close to Sirius's.**

**'How're things?' said Sirius.**

**'Not that good,' said Harry, as Hermione pulled Crookshanks back to stop him singeing his whiskers. The Ministry's forced through another decree, which means we're not allowed to have Quidditch teams - '**

"Blasphemy," gasped Sirius grinning, "But that's not what I meant," he laughed.

**'Or secret Defence Against the Dark Arts groups?' said Sirius.**

**There was a short pause.**

**'How did you know about that?' Harry demanded.**

**'You want to choose your meeting places more carefully,' said Sirius, grinning still more broadly. The Hog's Head, I ask you.'**

"Well this time I'll make it where there aren't any nosey Order members," mumbled Hermione causing Ron and Harry to snort and Remus to chuckle.

**'Well, it was better than the Three Broomsticks!' said Hermione defensively. That's always packed with people - '**

**'Which means you'd have been harder to overhear,' said Sirius. 'You've got a lot to learn, Hermione.'**

**'Who overheard us?' Harry demanded.**

"Mundungus," chorused Remus and Tonks cheerfully.

"What, I thought it would have been Aberforth?" remarked Ginny in surprise.

"Where was 'Dung?" asked Ron confused as he thought back to the people that had been described at the pub.

"He was the witch under the veil," said Luna smiling and looking slightly amused.

"How is it that you know that?" retorted Ron doubtfully.

"Professor Lupin and Tonks were whispering about him in the last chapter, when Fred made that joke about 'her'" she replied to the stunned looks for people around the room, particularly Remus and Tonks.

"She's good," remarked Tonks, admitting to the fact that had indeed been discussing 'Dung at the time.

**'Mundungus, of course,' said Sirius, and when they all looked puzzled he laughed. 'He was the witch under the veil.'**

**That was Mundungus?' Harry said, stunned. 'What was he doing in the Hog's Head?'**

**'What do you think he was doing?' said Sirius impatiently. 'Keeping an eye on you, of course.'**

**'I'm still being followed?' asked Harry angrily.**

"It's-" started Sirius but Harry cut him off.

"If you finish that sentence with 'for your own good', so help me…" he trailed off only half joking and not exactly sure what he would actually do.

"I was going to say it's for your safety, especially since the first thing you did was form an illegal defence group," retorted Sirius raising an eyebrow at his now sheepish godson.

"Sorry, I just hate it when people don't actually give me a reason for doing something," mumbled Harry blushing, scowled when Sirius ruffled his hair.

"No worries Pup," replied Sirius laughing.

**'Yeah, you are,' said Sirius, 'and just as well, isn't it, if the first thing you're going to do on your weekend off is organise an illegal defence group.'**

Harry flushed again and leaned back on Sirius's legs silently offering another apology, Sirius was only trying to look after him after all.

**But he looked neither angry nor worried. On the contrary, he was looking at Harry with distinct pride.**

**'Why was Dung hiding from us?' asked Ron, sounding disappointed. 'We'd've liked to've seen him.'**

"What a story that is," laughed Arthur.

"What happened?" asked the Twins eagerly. Arthur was about to answer but then he noticed his wife's glare and instead cleared his throat nervously.

"Ah…it's um…not really a story that should be repeated," he said just as disappointed as the Twins, but then when Molly wasn't looking, Arthur winked at his sons, who had to stifle their laughs as their father turned his attention back to Dedalus.

**'He was banned from the Hog's Head twenty years ago,' said Sirius, 'and that barman's got a long memory. We lost Moody's spare Invisibility Cloak when Sturgis was arrested, so Dung's been dressing as a witch a lot lately . . . anyway . . . first of all, Ron - I've sworn to pass on a message from your mother.'**

**'Oh yeah?' said Ron, sounding apprehensive.**

Ron's gaze flickered between the book and his mother nervously.

**'She says on no account whatsoever are you to take part in an illegal secret Defence Against the Dark Arts group. She says you'll be expelled for sure and your future will be ruined. She says there will be plenty of time to learn how to defend yourself later and that you are too young to be worrying about that right now. She also' (Sirius's eyes turned to the other two) 'advises Harry and Hermione not to proceed with the group, though she accepts that she has no authority over either of them **

Sirius nodded, happy with how Molly had proceeded, especially since in Harry's case, Sirius didn't agree with her.

**and simply begs them to remember that she has their best interests at heart. She would have written all this to you, but if the owl had been intercepted you'd all have been in real trouble, and she can't say it for herself because she's on duty tonight.'**

**'On duty doing what?' said Ron quickly.**

**'Never you mind, just stuff for the Order,' said Sirius. 'So it's fallen to me to be the messenger and make sure you tell her I passed it all on, because I don't think she trusts me to.'**

"Just don't actually tell her because that will get you into trouble as well," added Bill, successfully confusing himself and several others.

**There was another pause in which Crookshanks, mewing, attempted to paw Sirius's head, and Ron fiddled with a hole in the hearthrug.**

**'So, you want me to say I'm not going to take part in the Defence group?' he muttered finally.**

"Course not," interrupted Sirius, who was then shushed by Remus so Dedalus could keep reading.

**'Me? Certainly not!' said Sirius, looking surprised. 'I think it's an excellent idea!'**

**'You do?' said Harry, his heart lifting.**

**'Of course I do!' said Sirius. 'D'you think your father and I would've lain down and taken orders from an old hag like Umbridge?'**

"We most certainly would not have," smirked Sirius, thinking of all the things they would have done to her.

"Yes, but Harry is in a very different situation, this isn't fun and games Sirius, they could get expelled or worse!" replied Molly, her eyes narrowed at the man across the room.

"I _know_ that Molly, but I'm not about to be a hypocrite and tell Harry not to do anything, especially when that _woman_ is putting him in enough danger on her own!" retorted Sirius.

Molly opened her mouth to argue again, but thought better of it. If she wanted Harry as well as Sirius safe then it would do her no good fighting him.

**'But - last term all you did was tell me to be careful and not take risks - '**

"I still want you to be careful, but this year is different, you have someone on the outside who wants to kill everyone so it's necessary for you to take risks to keep safe," replied Sirius before Dedalus could read the next sentence, which was almost exactly the same.

**'Last year, all the evidence was that someone inside Hogwarts was trying to kill you, Harry!' said Sirius impatiently. 'This year, we know there's someone outside Hogwarts who'd like to kill us all, so I think learning to defend yourselves properly is; a very good idea!'**

Hermione frowned, Sirius seemed a little too eager for them to be breaking the rules in her opinion. He had after all made a name for himself at Hogwarts as a trouble maker, so what if this was a way for him to sort of relive the 'glory days' or something. Hermione frowned again, no Sirius wouldn't do that to Harry, his godson meant too much to him for Sirius to do something like that.

**'And if we do get expelled?' Hermione asked, a quizzical look on her face.**

**'Hermione, this whole thing was your idea!' said Harry, staring at her.**

**'I know it was. I just wondered what Sirius thought,' she said, shrugging.**

**'Well, better expelled and able to defend yourselves than sitting safely in school without a clue,' said Sirius.**

"Hogwarts is only as safe as the people that are in it," said Remus, "And even though I have relatively no say in the matter, with Umbridge there I would rather Harry, as well as the others, be educated in how to defend themselves."

**'Hear, hear,' said Harry and Ron enthusiastically.**

**'So,' said Sirius, 'how are you organising this group? Where are you meeting?'**

**'Well, mats a bit of a problem now, said Harry. Dunno where we're going to be able to go.'**

**'How about the Shrieking Shack?' suggested Sirius.**

"Too small," countered Remus.

**'Hey, that's an idea!' said Ron excitedly, but Hermione made a sceptical noise and all three of them looked at her, Sirius's head turning in the flames.**

Sirius sighed, he hoped that Hermione would come around to him eventually; he was after all only trying to help.

**'Well, Sirius, it's just that there were only four of you meeting in the Shrieking Shack when you were at school,' said Hermione, 'and all of you could transform into animals and I suppose you could all have squeezed under a single Invisibility Cloak if you'd wanted to. But there are twenty-eight of us and none of us is an Animagus, so we wouldn't need so much an Invisibility Cloak as an Invisibility Marquee - '**

"Hermione!" hissed Harry indignantly.

"Well it's true," she hissed back.

"You don't have to be so…" he paused trying to find a word that would substitute what he was going to say, "…mean about it, he's only trying to help and Sirius knows more about the school than anyone," replied Harry waspishly, glaring at his friend who in return refused to look at him.

**'Fair point,' said Sirius, looking slightly crestfallen. 'Well, I'm sure you'll come up with somewhere. There used to be a pretty roomy secret passageway behind that big mirror on the fourth floor, you might have enough space to practise jinxes in there.'**

"Caved in," said the Twins dejectedly.

"Too bad, I'm sure that was one of the bigger secret rooms," mumbled Sirius.

**'Fred and George told me it's blocked,' said Harry, shaking his head. 'Caved in or something.'**

**'Oh . . .' said Sirius, frowning. 'Well, I'll have a think and get back to - '**

"Having memory issues Black?" asked Snape silkily.

"Shut it Snape," replied Sirius glaring at the greasy man across the room, but otherwise made no further comment. Sirius didn't want to admit it but he was having trouble remembering all of the secret rooms and passageways that he and the other Marauders had discovered during their time at Hogwarts. It was probably because it was those moments that had been some of the happiest of his life; in fact he could only think of a handful of occasions when he had been happier. Now it was like those moments were locked away in the murky depths of his mind and Sirius was still waiting for the fog to clear.

**He broke off. His face was suddenly tense, alarmed. He turned sideways, apparently looking into the solid brick wall of the fireplace.**

"What, what's happened?" asked Emmeline anxiously.

**'Sirius?' said Harry anxiously.**

**But he had vanished. Harry gaped at the flames for a moment, then turned to look at Ron and Hermione.**

"Why would you leave?" asked Tonks frowning.

**'Why did he - ?'**

**Hermione gave a horrified gasp and leapt to her feet, still staring at the fire.**

**A hand had appeared amongst the flames, groping as though to catch hold of something; a stubby, short-fingered hand covered in ugly old-fashioned rings.**

There was a great gasp that seemed to echo around the room as the group realised what was happening. Umbridge had found them.

**The three of them ran for it. At the door of the boys' dormitory Harry looked back. Umbridge's hand was still making snatching movements amongst the flames, as though she knew exactly where Sirius's hair had been moments before and was determined to seize it.**

"I remember that, bloody freaky that was," said _Ron_ startling everyone from their horror induced reverie. He entered the room, followed by _Harry_ who was nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, scared the living day lights out of us," he added.

"How is it that you two are able to walk in here without any of us noticing? You don't even set Mrs Black off," asked Arthur.

"Practise," shrugged _Harry_ but then seeing that he was going to have to give more of an answer he added, "We apparate on the top step and don't slam the door."

"So why are you back so early, we haven't even had lunch yet," asked Molly checking both _Ron _and _Harry_ for any sign of injury.

"We ran out of places to look," replied _Harry_ before turning to Dumbledore and adding, "You were right about that shack sir, but we missed them by about a day."

"How do you know it was by a day?" asked Ginny.

"The rotting corpse was a bit of a give-away," responded _Ron_, earning several disgusted looks as he sat down.

"Speaking of corpses, you two had better have a good explanation for me to give to the Dark Lord," commented Snape sourly, though looking as though he would enjoy force feeding them one of his potions if they didn't.

"Oh, yeah sorry about that," said _Harry_ sheepishly. "I suppose Snake face wants to know who we are?" he asked as he glanced over to _Ron_.

"It took me a considerable amount of time to convice him that you weren't Order members, though Lucius still seems to think there's a connection," replied Snape glaring at them.

"Err, we'll come up with something you can tell him by tomorrow," said _Ron_ as the conversation died out, Snape seemingly appeased for the moment.

"So what are you going to do now?" asked Arthur as Dedalus put the book on the coffee table.

"We'll have to wait for Kingsley and Hermione to send us any information they can find from Dolohov's hideout, like times and places and hopefully who he managed to drag into this with him," replied _Harry_ as he stretched out in his seat.

"'Mione's supposed to contact us sometime today with whatever they've found so until then we've got some free time for once," commented _Ron_. He then turned to _Harry _and added "Free time, that's new." _Harry _snorted,

"Yeah," he laughed, and then turning back to the room he asked, "So who's going to read next?"

"I think I will," said Dumbledore as he picked up the book to read the last chapter before lunch. He cleared his throat then in a loud clear voice he read, "**Dumbledore's Army**," his eyebrows rising as he did so.

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**Okay so there's going to be a bit of wait for the next chapter as I haven't finished writing it. Also tell me if you think Harry is in character, I think he is but his mood is a little all over the shop so tell me if you think he seems a bit oc or not. Thanks :)**


	24. Dumbledore's Army

**Okay...so don't kill me because life has been a bit hectic the last month or so since I was on my practically experience for Uni (which was amazing btw) and I also went skiing for a week and was up at 5 and in bed by 7 nearly every night so no time to write...so sorry but I can't help it.**

**I do not own Harry Potter anything you recognise or is in bold is the property of JKRowling.**

**Please Review :)**

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Dumbledore's Army

**'Umbridge has been reading your mail, Harry. There's no other explanation.'**

**'You think Umbridge attacked Hedwig?' he said, outraged.**

Harry's eyes flashed as he thought of Umbridge even touching Hedwig

**'I'm almost certain of it,' said Hermione grimly. 'Watch your frog, it's escaping.'**

**Harry pointed his wand at the bullfrog that had been hopping hopefully towards the other side of the table-'Accio!'- and it zoomed gloomily back into his**

**hand.**

"Do you think they use the same frogs for all of the lessons?" asked Tonks suddenly.

"Probably, why?" asked Emmeline leaning over Sirius to look at the younger witch.

"Well, Harry said it looked hopeful to escape, I just thought maybe it had been there for a while," she replied shrugging.

"You'd be hopeful for escape as well if you had some kid trying to summon you over and over," Sirius told Tonks, before grinning innocently as Harry let out and

indignant 'hey!'.

**Charms was always one of the best lessons in which to enjoy a private chat; there was generally so much movement and activity that the danger of**

**being overheard was very slight. Today, with the room full of croaking bullfrogs and cawing ravens, and with a heavy downpour of rain clattering and**

**pounding against the classroom windows, Harry, Ron and Hermione's whispered discussion about how Umbridge had nearly caught Sirius went quite**

**unnoticed.**

"Good old charms, we did some of our best planning in that class," laughed Sirius.

"So have we," added the Twins, who then joined in laughing until their mother scolded them for not concentrating on their school work.

**'I've been suspecting this ever since Filch accused you of ordering Dungbombs, because it seemed such a stupid lie,' Hermione whispered. 'I mean, once**

**your letter had been read it would have been quite clear you weren't ordering them, so you wouldn't have been in trouble at all-it's a bit of a feeble joke,**

**isn't it? But then I thought, what if somebody just wanted an excuse to read your mail? Well then, it would be a perfect way for Umbridge to manage it **

**tip off Filch, let him do the dirty work and confiscate the letter, then either find a way of stealing it from him or else demand to see it-I don't think Filch**

**would object, when's he ever stuck up for a student's rights? Harry, you're squashing your frog.'**

**Harry looked down; he was indeed squeezing his bullfrog so tightly its eyes were popping; he replaced it hastily upon the desk.**

There were a few scattered chuckles from around the room.

**'It was a very, very close call last night,' said Hermione. 'I just wonder if Umbridge knows how close it was. Silencio.'**

**The bullfrog on which she was practising her Silencing Charm was struck dumb mid-croak and glared at her reproachfully.**

**'If she'd caught Snuffles-'**

**Harry finished the sentence for her.**

**'-He'd probably be back in Azkaban this morning.' He waved his wand without really concentrating; his bullfrog swelled like a green balloon and emitted**

**a high-pitched whistle.**

This caused the room to burst out laughing.

"Perhaps it would help if you concentrate next time Harry," laughed Remus as Harry flushed a light shade of red.

**'Silencio!' said Hermione hastily, pointing her wand at Harry's frog, which deflated silently before them. 'Well, he mustn't do it again, that's all. I just**

**don't know how we're going to let him know. We can't send him an owl.'**

**'I don't reckon he'll risk it again,' said Ron. 'He's not stupid, he knows she nearly got him. Silencio.'**

"Thank you Ron," smiled Sirius, happy to know that Ron would defend him, even from Hermione.

**The large and ugly raven in front of him let out a derisive caw.**

**'Silencio. SILENCIO!'**

**The raven cawed more loudly.**

"Yelling it won't make the spell work any better Ron," sighed Molly as Ron grinned sheepishly and _Ron_ laughed,

"I'll keep that in mind mum," he said.

**'It's the way you're moving your wand,' said Hermione, watching Ron critically, 'you don't want to wave it, it's more a sharp jab.'**

Harry sighed, "I thought you would have learnt from the first time," he said exasperatedly.

"Just because Ron reacts badly when people offer him advice on schoolwork doesn't mean I shouldn't tell him when he's doing it wrong, it's the only way he'll

learn," argued Hermione, missing the point almost completely.

"It's Levi-oh-sa not Levi-ooh-sa," sniggered _Harry._

"Shut up," both Ron's replied, crossing their arms and huffing at exactly the same time, causing the rest of the group to laugh.

**'Ravens are harder than frogs,' said Ron through clenched teeth.**

"Which actually means Hermione, 'alright I'll try it your way but leave me alone while I do it 'cause you watching me do it is bloody well putting me off'" laughed

_Ron_ as Hermione frowned and Ron's ears turned red.

"And what's stopping you from actually saying that?" asked Molly sternly, if Ron actually said what he meant he wouldn't have such a hard time talking to

Hermione.

"Because it sounds rude to tell her that her face is putting me off?" replied Ron hesitantly, not that was exactly the way he should have said it. Hermione put

him off because she was better thenhim at well, everything, added onto the fact that he was half in love with her (not that he'd admit it, especially not to

Hermione). Anyway she didn't think he was mature enough as it was so if he admitted his feelings, well then, she's probably laugh at him or something. Harry,

as well as several others, laughed as Molly bristled and Hermione flushed, not sure whether she should be insulted or embarrassed.

**'Fine, let's swap,' said Hermione, seizing Ron's raven and replacing it with her own fat bullfrog. 'Silencio!' The raven continued to open and close its**

**sharp beak, but no sound came out.**

**'Very good, Miss Granger!' said Professor Flitwick's squeaky little voice, making Harry, Ron and Hermione all jump. 'Now, let me see you try, Mr.**

**Weasley'**

Ron sighed and rubbed his eyes. He hated it when teachers asked him to try a spell after Hermione, because she always got it right. How in the name of Merlin

was he supposed to compete with that?

**'Wha-? Oh-oh, right,' said Ron, very flustered. 'Er-silencio!'**

"Having some performance issues Ronnie," laughed Fred as Ron glared at him and George laughed. Hermione however, and a few others as well, frowned at

the mention of Ron being flustered. Was Ron really that adverse about practising in front of Flitwick, or was it because she had gone first? Hermione glanced at

the boy next to her and noticed that his ears were red again. _Maybe it was because of her_, Hermione's frown deeped, _but that's just silly Ron's great at spells_

_when he puts his mind to it, just look at what happened with the troll _she thought.

**He jabbed at the bullfrog so hard he poked it in the eye: the frog gave a deafening croak and leapt off the desk.**

Ron groaned and suddenly very interested with the loose thread on his jumper. Hermione, seeing Ron's glum look bumped his shoulder, and when he looked

up she sent him a reassuring smile, which Ron gratefully returned.

**It came as no surprise to any of them that Harry and Ron were given additional practice of the Silencing Charm for homework.**

"At least I have to practice as well," Harry muttered in Ron's ear, almost successfully cheering the other boy up.

**They were allowed to remain inside over break due to the downpour outside. They found seats in a noisy and overcrowded classroom on the first floor in**

**which Peeves was floating dreamily up near the chandelier, occasionally blowing an ink pellet at the top of somebody's head. They had barely sat down**

**when Angelina came struggling towards them through the groups of gossiping students.**

**'I've got permission!' she said. 'To re-form the Quidditch team!'**

The Quidditch nuts cheered with excitement at the thought of the Gryffindor team being back in action.

"Finally some good news!" grinned George enthusiastically.

**'Excellent!' said Ron and Harry together.**

**'Yeah,' said Angelina, beaming. 'I went to McGonagall and I think she might have appealed to Dumbledore. Anyway, Umbridge had to give in. Ha! So I**

**want you down at the pitch at seven o'clock tonight, all right, because we've got to make up time. You realise we're only three weeks away from our**

**first match?'**

"I told you the teachers wouldn't stand for it," said Hestia grinning.

**She squeezed away from them, narrowly dodged an ink pellet from Peeves, which hit a nearby first-year instead, and vanished from sight.**

**Ron's smile slipped slightly as he looked out of the window, which was now opaque with hammering rain.**

**'Hope this clears up. What's up with you, Hermione?'**

"I hate training in the rain," muttered Harry, agreeing with the Ron in the book.

"I don't think you'll find someone who'd argue with you about that," commented Dedalus.

**She, too, was gazing at the window, but not as though she really saw it. Her eyes were unfocused and there was a frown on her face.**

**'Just thinking ...' she said, still frowning at the rain-washed window.**

"Are you going to finish that sentence?" asked Tonks grinning as Hermione smiled and shrugged.

"Whatever she's going to say it won't make sense to us," commented Ron.

"Never ask Hermione what she's thinking, you won't get a proper answer," added Harry as Hermione glared at them.

"Yeah, _Ron _and I have a theory that her brain is going too fast for her mouth, so everything she says comes out behind what she's thinking, but still way off our

last conversation," continued _Harry_ who then laughed when Hermione turned her glare on him and _Ron._

**'About Siri- Snuffles?' said Harry.**

**'No ... not exactly ...' said Hermione slowly. 'More ... wondering ... I suppose we're doing the right thing ... I think ... aren't we?'**

"Because that makes so much sense," laughed Ginny understanding what her brother and Harry had meant.

**Harry and Ron looked at each other.**

**'Well, that clears that up,' said Ron. 'It would've been really annoying if you hadn't explained yourself properly.'**

"You know I didn't know Ron was this sarcastic," Sirius said to Remus laughing.

"I suppose he's reminding you of yourself again," smiled Remus happy to inflate Sirius's ego if it kept him laughing.

"And you, as good as I was at it, you always came out with some great ones that took us half the day just to work out," reminded Sirius as Remus grinned

while Emmeline and Tonks listened intently to the boys conversation instead of the book.

**Hermione looked at him as though she had only just realised he was there.**

"Thanks for that 'Moine" said Ron sourly, his teasing smile not quite reaching his eyes.

**'I was just wondering,' she said, her voice stronger now, 'whether we're doing the right thing, starting this Defence Against the Dark Arts group.'**

"What, it was your idea!" cried Ginny as the boys looked at Hermione confusedly.

**'What?' said Harry and Ron together.**

**'Hermione, it was your idea in the first place!' said Ron indignantly.**

**'I know,' said Hermione, twisting her fingers together. 'But after talking to Snuffles ...'**

Harry's eyes narrowed as Hermione flushed, while Ron groaned at the prospect of Harry and Hermione not talking again.

**'But he's all for it,' said Harry.**

**'Yes,' said Hermione, staring at the window again. 'Yes, that's what made me think maybe it wasn't a good idea after all ...'**

"Oh so Sirius agreeing with something automatically makes it a bad idea," seethed Harry.

"No, Harry that's not-" stammered Hermione but Harry cut her off.

"I don't want to hear it," he snapped glaring at the floor.

Hermione glanced behind her at Sirius only to be met with a mask of indifference, it wasn't that she didn't trust his judgement, honestly she did. He was just so

rash, that it made her feel uneasy about his motivations for agreeing with them, after all some of the other Order members had already argued that it wasn't a

good idea. Ron squeezed her hand but didn't say anything or take his eyes of the book, silently comforting her but still not taking her side.

**Peeves floated over them on his stomach, peashooter at the ready; automatically all three of them lifted their bags to cover their heads until he had**

**passed.**

"It's actually quite funny how you guys are having- and forgive the pun- a 'Sirius' conversation and Peeves is just in the background causing trouble," smirked

Bill.

"It does tend to take away from the gravity of the conversation doesn't it," added Emmeline laughing as Sirius grinned like a fool at the pun, momentarily

forgetting Hermione's comments.

**'Let's get this straight,' said Harry angrily, as they put their bags back on the floor, 'Sirius agrees with us, so you don't think we should do it anymore?'**

Molly bit her lip. She knew how hard bringing this up must have been for Hermione. The girl knew how much Harry cared about his godfather and to openly

question his motives in front of Harry had been a big step, but Molly agreed with her. Of course Molly had disagreed with the idea since it had been brought up.

Much like her book self she was worried about what would happen if they were found out, but in light of what was known about Sirius, it was only logical to

question why he so readily agreed to the idea, particularly if he didn't want Harry getting into trouble.

**Hermione looked tense and rather miserable. Now staring at her own hands, she said, 'Do you honestly trust his judgement?'**

"Yes," said both Harry's at the same time. Sirius smiled, he had been worried about losing Harry's trust after his confession the other night (even after Harry

had forgiven him), so it was nice to hear both present and future Harry trusted him without hesitation.

**'Yes, I do!' said Harry at once. 'He's always given us great advice!'**

"That is true, bar your dating tips to Prongs you have always given excellent advice," agreed Remus, thinking back to Sirius's advice about Tonks.

"Then maybe you should follow it," said Sirius in a low voice as he winked at Remus.

**An ink pellet whizzed past them, striking Katie Bell squarely in the ear. Hermione watched Katie leap to her feet and start throwing things at Peeves; it**

**was a few moments before Hermione spoke again and it sounded as though she was choosing her words very carefully.**

_'I would be_' thought Hermione. She could tell what her book self was thinking and it wasn't that she didn't trust Sirius, however after hearing all of the stories

and seeing the memory from his younger days, she couldn't help but wonder just how much he was helping them and how much was wanting to be the same

reckless twenty-one year old he had been before Azkaban.

**'You don't think he has become ... sort of ... reckless ... since he's been cooped up in Grimmauld Place? You don't think he's ... kind of ... living through**

**us?'**

**''What d'you mean, "living through us"?' Harry retorted.' **Dumbledore read quickly when he saw Harry open his mouth in his peripheral vision.

"Hermione, I may be reckless and a little high strung since being stuck in this hell hole, but I'm not trying to live through any of you," said Sirius, sounding only

slightly defensive.

"I-I know it's just, oh, I just think you're frustrated with not being able to leave, worried about Harry not being taught to defend himself, bored with not having

anything to do here and excited about us creating an illegal club right under Umbridge's nose" said Hermione all at once, as her cheeks turned pink. Sirius

nodded, his eyes slightly wide as he tried to follow what she had said, but he didn't reply. She was right in her reasoning but nothing more and he wasn't

going to keep repeating himself.

**'I mean ... well, I think he'd love to be forming secret Defence societies right under the nose of someone from the Ministry ... I think he's really frustrated**

**at how little he can do where he is ... so I think he's keen to kind of ... egg us on.'**

**Ron looked utterly perplexed.**

A few people looked over at Ron who indeed looked perplexed at Hermione's statement.

**'Sirius is right,' he said, 'you do sound just like my mother.'**

"Not that you'll ever tell her that again," joked _Harry_ in _Ron's_ ear.

"Not if I want to sleep in the same bed as her anyway," replied _Ron _with a lopsided grin.

**Hermione bit her lip and did not answer. The bell rang just as Peeves swooped down on Katie and emptied an entire ink bottle over her head.**

"Are you paying attention to the conversation as well as what Peeves is doing in the background?" asked Bill.

"Well, it's kind of hard to miss," replied _Harry _shrugging.

**The weather did not improve as the day wore on, so that at seven o'clock that evening, when Harry and Ron went down to the Quidditch pitch for**

**practice, they were soaked through within minutes, their feet slipping and sliding on the sodden grass. The sky was a deep, thundery grey and it was a**

**relief to gain the warmth and light of the changing rooms, even if they knew the respite was only temporary. They found Fred and George debating**

**whether to use one of their own Skiving Snackboxes to get out of flying.**

**'... but I bet she'd know what we'd done,' Fred said out of the corner of his mouth. 'If only I hadn't offered to sell her some Puking Pastilles yesterday.'**

"Maybe we should keep ones to ourselves for a while just so we can get out of practice in the rain," offered George.

"Nah, we need the results from other kids trying them more than getting out of practice, besides she'd catch on eventually and you wouldn't want to lie to your

girlfriend," replied Fred, wiggling his eyebrows as he teased his brother.

"She's not my girlfriend," denied George, scowling at his twin.

**'We could try the Fever Fudge,' George muttered, 'no one's seen that yet-'**

**'Does it work?' enquired Ron hopefully, as the hammering of rain on the roof intensified and wind howled around the building.**

"Why is that always the first question you ask us?" asked George clutching his chest in mock hurt.

"Yeah or 'what's wrong with it?" added Fred grinning at his younger brother.

"Because usually it either doesn't work or will do something to me it's not supposed to?" stated Ron though it sounded more like a question as the Twins

laughed.

**'Well, yeah,' said Fred, 'your temperature'll go right up.'**

**'But you get these massive pus-filled boils, too,' said George, 'and we haven't worked out how to get rid of them yet.'**

"See, that's why I ask, you don't tell me otherwise," added Ron as Molly glared at her sons.

**'I can't see any boils,' said Ron, staring at the twins.**

**'No, well, you wouldn't,' said Fred darkly, 'they're not in a place we generally display to the public.'**

"Ouch" laughed Tonks as the Twins winced, they were not looking forward to that.

"I think I'll go to practice," sniggered Ron as the Twins glared at him.

**'But they make sitting on a broom a right pain in the-'**

**'All right, everyone, listen up,' said Angelina loudly, emerging from the Captain's office. 'I know it's not ideal weather, but there's a chance we'll be**

**playing Slytherin in conditions like this so it's a good idea to work out how we're going to cope with them. Harry, didn't you do something to your glasses**

**to stop the rain fogging them up when we played Hufflepuff in that storm?'**

**'Hermione did it,' said Harry. He pulled out his wand, tapped his glasses and said, 'Impervius!'**

"It's nice to know you listen," grumbled Hermione as she rolled her eyes.

**'I think we all ought to try that,' said Angelina. 'If we could just keep the rain off our faces it would really help visibility-all together, come on -**

**Impervius! OK. Let's go.'**

**They all stowed their wands back in the inside pockets of their robes, shouldered their brooms and followed Angelina out of the changing rooms.**

**They squelched through the deepening mud to the middle of the pitch; visibility was still very poor even with the Impervius Charm; light was fading fast**

**and curtains of rain were sweeping the grounds.**

"I think it would be wise to wait for nicer weather," commented Luna her dreamy gaze drifting over the book as she smiled at the boys.

**'All right, on my whistle,' shouted Angelina.**

**Harry kicked off from the ground, spraying mud in all directions, and shot upwards, the wind pulling him slightly off course.**

"Wow, even James never made us go out in conditions like that and he was practically insane about our training schedule," said Sirius whistling.

"What do you mean?" asked Emmeline before Harry had a chance, though both of them had a look of curiosity on their faces as they turned to face Sirius.

"Well just that James was 'enthusiastic' enough to get us all out of bed at the crack of dawn rain, hail or shine," he said smiling at the memory of James

attempting to frag him out of bed. "Of course he only did that if it was actually worth going out, not like what Angelina is trying to do, it's not constructive at

all," he added after a second.

**He had no idea how he was going to see the Snitch in this weather; he was having enough difficulty seeing the one Bludger with which they were**

**practising; a minute into the practice it almost unseated him and he had to use the Sloth Grip Roll to avoid it. Unfortunately, Angelina did not see this. In**

**fact, she did not appear to be able to see anything; none of them had a clue what the others were doing. The wind was picking up; even at a distance**

**Harry could hear the swishing, pounding sounds of the rain pummelling the surface of the lake.**

"Yep definitely a waste of time," conceded Tonks as the boys groaned at the thought of being out in that weather.

**Angelina kept them at it for nearly an hour before conceding defeat. She led her sodden and disgruntled team back into the changing rooms, insisting that**

**the practice had not been a waste of time, though without any real conviction in her voice. Fred and George were looking particularly annoyed; both**

**were bandy-legged and winced with every movement. Harry could hear them complaining in low voices as he towelled his hair dry.**

Bill, Ron and Ginny sniggered at their brother's misfortune.

**'I think a few of mine have ruptured,' said Fred in a hollow voice.**

**'Mine haven't,' said George, through clenched teeth, 'they're throbbing like mad ... feel bigger if anything.'**

**'OUCH!' said Harry.**

"What is it?" asked Molly looking worried.

**He pressed the towel to his face, his eyes screwed tight with pain. The scar on his forehead had seared again, more painfully than it had in weeks.**

"The usual then," said Harry grumpily.

**'What's up?' said several voices.**

**Harry emerged from behind his towel; the changing room was blurred because he was not wearing his glasses, but he could still tell that everyone's face**

**was turned towards him.**

"Your eyesight's the same as James's then, you have the same problem I mean," said Remus speaking up for the first time in a while. He'd spent most of the

chapter watching Tonks's fingers tracing patterns on his leg, though she didn't seem to be conscious of the fact (as far as he knew).

"James's was worse I think, he once said that he was legally blind without them," added Sirius.

"Was that before or after you stole them and he walked into Lily because he didn't see her, even with her hair," laughed Emmeline, which cause Remus and

Sirius to laugh as they remembered the occasion as well.

"Definitely before," replied Sirius with a wink.

**'Nothing,' he muttered, 'I-poked myself in the eye, that's all.'**

"It's a decent lie at least," said Bill.

**But he gave Ron a significant look and the two of them hung back as the rest of the team filed back outside, muffled in their cloaks, their hats pulled low**

**over their ears.**

**'What happened?' said Ron, the moment Alicia had disappeared through the door. 'Was it your scar?'**

**Harry nodded.**

**'But ...' looking scared, Ron strode across to the window and stared out into the rain, 'he-he can't be near us now, can he?'**

"Honestly Weasley, the Dark Lord cannot enter Hogwarts without giving himself away what on Earth makes you think he'd be anywhere near there now," said

Snape, speaking up just long enough to rolling his eyes at the boys stupidity.

"Well excuse me if every other time it's been because of that," retorted Ron sourly, surprising himself that he actually spoke out against Snape.

**'No,' Harry muttered, sinking on to a bench and rubbing his forehead. 'He's probably miles away. It hurt because ... he's ... angry.'**

Dumbledore's brow creased slightly as he considered Harry's statement. If Voldemort's emotions were bleeding through the connection enough for Harry to

notice, to be able to recognise what the other wizard was feeling...He didn't want to think of the consequences of Voldemort finding out and using it against

Harry. But thinking back to what _Harry_ had said about not being able to forgive him for some things, gave Dumbledore the impression that any and all

consequences of keeping Harry in the dark for too long would be disastrous. Dumbledore nodded to himself as he continued to read, for now he would proceed

with caution.

**Harry had not meant to say that at all, and heard the words as though a stranger had spoken them-yet knew at once that they were true. He did not**

**know how he knew it, but he did; Voldemort, wherever he was, whatever he was doing, was in a towering temper.**

Harry nodded agreeing with the passage, and not just because his older self had told him. He could feel it, because he was sure that's why he had been in

such a mood yesterday, _Harry _and _Ron_ had attacked the Death Eaters and severely pissed Voldemort off. It also explained why his older self was leaving it to

the book to tell him about this particular connection. After all being a sort of mood ring to Voldemort wasn't something you could just explain without having the

other person experience it.

**'Did you see him?' said Ron, looking horrified. 'Did you ... get a vision, or something?'**

Harry sent him a hurt look.

"Horrified that you saw Voldmort, not 'cause you know, you were doing it," clarified Ron quickly causing Harry to nod and smile slightly.

**Harry sat quite still, staring at his feet, allowing his mind and his memory to relax in the aftermath of the pain.**

Snape clicked his tongue, if Potter let his mind relax after something like that, he could already tell the boy was going to be horrible at occulemcy.

**A confused tangle of shapes, a howling rush of voices ...**

**'He wants something done, and it's not happening fast enough,' he said.**

"Well it did take most of the year, it's understandable he's upset," said _Ron_ with mock sympathy.

"The longer the better," commented Remus as the rest of the Order members nodded as they realised what _Ron_ was referring to.

**Again, he felt surprised to hear the words coming out of his mouth, and yet was quite certain they were true.**

**'But ... how do you know?' said Ron.**

"Because I have some weird connection with him right?" said Harry, sure Dumbledore had told him this more than once before.

"Something like that," replied _Harry _shivering as he thought of the horcrux housed in his younger self, and the true reason for said connection.

**Harry shook his head and covered his eyes with his hands, pressing down upon them with his palms. Little stars erupted in them. He felt Ron sit down on**

**the bench beside him and knew Ron was staring at him.**

"I'm not surprised," said Hestia softly, if she was the one to hear Harry telling her what Voldemort was essentially thinking, well, she'd probably stare as well.

**'Is this what it was about last time?' said Ron in a hushed voice. 'When your scar hurt in Umbridge's office? You-Know-Who was angry?'**

**Harry shook his head.**

Some of the Order members gave Harry worried looks, just how 'in tune' was Harry with Voldemort and if this connection was really that powerful, was

Dumbledore right in keeping information away from Harry?

**'What is it, then?'**

"You know you have this certain way of asking the right questions in this kind of situation," said _Harry_ turning to look at _Ron_ "Of course once I answer you, you

tend you freak out a bit," he added as _Ron _grinned sheepishly and Ron perked when he heard the comment.

"You were the one impersonating a mood ring," laughed _Ron_ quietly in reply.

**Harry was thinking himself back. He had been looking into Umbridge's face ... his scar had hurt ... and he had had that odd feeling in his stomach ... a**

**strange, leaping feeling ... a happy feeling ... but of course, he had not recognised it for what it was, as he had been feeling so miserable himself ...**

"Happy, what could he have possibly been happy about?" asked Hermione looking worried.

**'Last time, it was because he was pleased,' he said. 'Really pleased. He thought ... something good was going to happen. And the night before we came**

**back to Hogwarts ...' he thought back to the moment when his scar had hurt so badly in his and Ron's bedroom in Grimmauld Place ... he was furious.**

"What would have made him happy though?" asked Bill.

"I don't know for sure, but I think it was the night that Sturgis was sentenced to Azkaban," said _Harry_ shrugging as Bill nodded in understanding.

"What made him angry then?" asked Dedalus, curious to know if _Harry _knew the answer.

_Harry_ shook his head and shrugged. "I dunno, maybe he looked in a mirror and finally realised he doesn't have a nose," he finished causing the rooms

occupants to either laugh or gasp in horror at _Harry's_ comment.

**He looked round at Ron, who was gaping at him.**

**'You could take over from Trelawney, mate,' he said in an awed voice.**

**'I'm not making prophecies,' said Harry.**

"No, but you'd still be better at it than her," giggled Ginny.

**'No, you know what you're doing?' Ron said, sounding both scared and impressed. 'Harry, you're reading You-Know-Who's mind!'**

"No, it's more like his mood," said _Harry _smiling as he remembered what his reply had been. Well, he was until _Ron _elbowed him the ribs.

"Stop repeating yourself," _Ron _hissed in _Harry's_ ear.

"I'm not, the books repeating me," argued _Harry_.

"The stuff in the book has already happened, you're repeating it," replied _Ron_ happily arguing back. _Harry_ was again about to deny this when they were

interrupted by the teenagers snickering and Molly glaring at them, though it seemed that she was close to laughing at them as well.

"If you two are finished," she said sharply, raising an eyebrow as both of the men flushed and told Dumbledore to continue.

**'No,' said Harry, shaking his head. 'It's more like ... his mood, I suppose. I'm just getting flashes of what mood he's in. Dumbledore said something like**

**this was happening last year. He said that when Voldemort was near me, or when he was feeling hatred, I could tell. Well, now I'm feeling it when he's**

**pleased, too ...'**

**There was a pause. The wind and rain lashed at the building.**

**'You've got to tell someone,' said Ron.**

"Tell me," said Sirius as he poked Harry a little too hard in the back of the head.

"Ow, I won't tell you anything if you keep poking me," replied Harry frowning at him as he rubbed the back of his head.

Sirius grinned sheepishly as he apologised, "But you know you can tell me stuff like that right?" he asked.

"Yes Padfoot," Harry answered smiling as he turned back around.

**'I told Sirius last time.'**

**'Well, tell him about this time!'**

**'Can't, can I?' said Harry grimly. 'Umbridge is watching the owls and the fires, remember?'**

"Then tell Dumbledore," hissed Hermione.

**'Well then, Dumbledore.'**

"Dumbledore won't even look at me, what makes you think he would even see me?" asked Harry grumpily, upset that the Dumbledore in the room still wasn't

looking at him even though he had called the old professor out on it.

**'I've just told you, he already knows,' said Harry shortly, getting to his feet, taking his cloak off his peg and swinging it around him. 'There's no point**

**telling him again.'**

"The point Mr Potter is that I am made aware it is still occurring," replied Dumbledore.

**Ron did up the fastening of his own cloak, watching Harry thoughtfully.**

**'Dumbledore'd want to know,' he said.**

"You won't tell him because you're mad at him," Ron added.

**Harry shrugged.**

**'C'mon ... we've still got Silencing Charms to practise.'**

**They hurried back through the dark grounds, sliding and stumbling up the muddy lawns, not talking. Harry was thinking hard. What was it that Voldemort**

**wanted done that was not happening quickly enough?**

"Killing me off?" said _Harry_ rhetorically as _Ron_ snorted in the seat next to him.

"What was that?" asked Sirius once he saw Remus's face blanch.

"Nothing," responded _Harry_ innocently as Remus regained his colour and glared at the younger man for being so flippant.

**'... he's got other plans ... plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed ... stuff he can only get by stealth ... like a weapon. Something he didn't**

**have last time.'**

"Oh Sirius, now look what you've done, I told you it would only worry him," said Molly fretting.

**Harry had not thought about those words in weeks; he had been too absorbed in what was going on at Hogwarts, too busy dwelling on the ongoing**

**battles with Umbridge, the injustice of all the Ministry interference ... but now they came back to him and made him wonder ... Voldemort's anger would**

**make sense if he was no nearer to laying hands on the weapon, whatever it was. Had the Order thwarted him, stopped him from seizing it? Where was it**

**kept? Who had it now?**

"All will be revealed next time on the 'Life and Times of Harry Potter'…" laughed _Ron_ imitating the dramatic voice that wouldn't be misplaced on a soap opera.

"This isn't a television programme Ronald," chided Hermione.

"It feels like one," commented Harry as his older self and _Ron_ laughed.

**'Mimbulus mimbletonia,' said Ron's voice and Harry came back to his senses just in time to clamber through the portrait hole into the common room.**

**It appeared that Hermione had gone to bed early, leaving Crookshanks curled in a nearby chair and an assortment of knobbly knitted elf hats lying on a**

**table by the fire. Harry was rather grateful that she was not around, because he did not much want to discuss his scar hurting and have her urge him to**

**go to Dumbledore, too. Ron kept throwing him anxious glances, but Harry pulled out his Charms books and set to work on finishing his essay, though he**

**was only pretending to concentrate and by the time Ron said he was going up to bed, too, he had written hardly anything.**

Harry smiled slightly at the thought of Ron being worried about him, it was nice to hear how much the other boy cared about him.

**Midnight came and went while Harry was reading and rereading a passage about the uses of scurvy-grass, lovage and sneezewort and not taking in a**

**word of it.**

Snape rolled his eyes; the material wasn't even that hard to understand. Potter was just too stupid to be studying it at a reasonable hour.

**These plants are moste efficacious in the inflaming of the braine, and are therefore much used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts, where the**

**wizard is desirous of producing hot-headedness and recklessness ...**

**... Hermione said Sirius was becoming reckless cooped up in Grimmauld Place ...**

"Um, what?" asked Dedalus confused.

"I believe Harry is falling asleep," said Dumbledore. It was most entertaining to see or in this case read a person's train of thought as they drifted between the

realms of consciousness and sleep.

**... moste efficacious in the inflaming of the braine, and are therefore much used ...**

**... the Daily Prophet would think his brain was inflamed if they found out that he knew what Voldemort was feeling ...**

"Wow, you're out of it," sniggered Fred as _Harry_ scratched the back of his head and nodded, he didn't remember any of this so it was interesting for him at

least, to hear.

**... therefore much used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts ...**

**... confusing was the word, all right; why did he know what Voldemort was feeling? What was this weird connection between them, which Dumbledore**

**had never been able to explain satisfactorily?**

"Because you're not ready to hear it," _Harry_ commented absently, his gaze drifting to Dumbledore, who nodded in understanding. This however just caused

more frustration for Harry.

**... where the wizard is desirous ...**

**... how Harry would like to sleep ...**

**... of producing hot-headedness ...**

**... it was warm and comfortable in his armchair before the fire, with the rain still beating heavily on the windowpanes, Crookshanks purring, and the**

**crackling of the flames ...**

"It's kind of weird how you're relating what you're reading in the book to your surroundings and what's happening to you," said Bill.

**The book slipped from Harry's slack grip and landed with a dull thud on the hearthrug. His head lolled sideways ...**

**He was walking once more along a windowless corridor, his footsteps echoing in the silence. As the door at the end of the passage loomed larger, his**

**heart beat fast with excitement ... if he could only open it ... enter beyond ...**

He stretched out his hand ... his fingertips were inches from it ...

**'Harry Potter, sir!'**

"Dobby!" cheered _Harry_ and _Ron_.

**He awoke with a start. The candles had all been extinguished in the common room, but there was something moving close by.**

**'Whozair?' said Harry, sitting upright in his chair. The fire was almost out, the room very dark.**

**'Dobby has your owl, sir!' said a squeaky voice.**

**'Dobby?' said Harry thickly, peering through the gloom towards the source of the voice.**

**Dobby the house-elf was standing beside the table on which Hermione had left half a dozen of her knitted hats. His large, pointed ears were now sticking**

**out from beneath what looked like all the hats Hermione had ever knitted; he was wearing one on top of the other, so that his head seemed elongated by**

**two or three feet, and on the very topmost bobble sat Hedwig, hooting serenely and obviously cured.**

Hermione shook her head in disbelief "He didn't…" she said quietly, her voice trailing off as she shook her head. Dobby couldn't have taken all of her hard work

could he?

"Sorry 'Mione," said_ Ron_ grimacing.

**'Dobby volunteered to return Harry Potter's owl,' said the elf squeakily, with a look of positive adoration on his face, 'Professor Grubbly-Plank says she**

**is all well now, sir.' He sank into a deep bow so that his pencil-like nose brushed the threadbare surface of the hearthrug and Hedwig gave an indignant**

**hoot and fluttered on to the arm of Harry's chair.**

**'Thanks, Dobby!' said Harry, stroking Hedwig's head and blinking hard, trying to rid himself of the image of the door in his dream ... it had been very**

**vivid. Surveying Dobby more closely, he noticed that the elf was also wearing several scarves and innumerable socks, so that his feet looked far too big**

**for his body.**

**'Er ... have you been taking all the clothes Hermione's been leaving out?'**

**'Oh, no, sir,' said Dobby happily. 'Dobby has been taking some for Winky, too, sir.'**

"What?" breathed Hermione in confusion as much as she liked Dobby and felt sorry for Winky, why were they the only ones taking her knitting?

**'Yeah, how is Winky?' asked Harry.**

**Bobby's ears drooped slightly.**

"Not good then," said Harry.

"Who's Winky?" asked Emmeline slightly confused.

"She was Crouch's House Elf, but he fired her at the Quidditch Cup," explained Ron.

"Crouch fired her, whatever for?" asked Tonks.

"She left their tent when the Death Eaters attacked when Crouch had ordered her to stay there," hissed Hermione.

**'Winky is still drinking lots, sir,' he said sadly, his enormous round green eyes, large as tennis balls, downcast. 'She still does not care for clothes, Harry**

**Potter. Nor do the other house-elves. None of them will clean Gryffindor Tower any more, not with the hats and socks hidden everywhere, they finds**

**them insulting, sir.**

Hermione put her head in her hands as she felt her face heat up. Ron was right, how could she have been so stupid? All of that hard work, learning to knit, the

late nights and all of it going down the drain because not only had she put the elves off cleaning Gryffindor Tower, but she had insulted them as well! How

could that have happened? Surely they wanted things to change, surely they wanted the opportunity to earn money and wear clothes? Didn't they? Hermione

stiffened as she felt Ron put a hand on her knee. She expected him to say 'I told you so' or something obnoxious, but when she looked over at him all she saw

was a warm smile.

"You work it out eventually," he said, reminding her of what his future self had said.

"Thank you," she replied as his ears flushed.

**Dobby does it all himself, sir, but Dobby does not mind, sir, for he always hopes to meet Harry Potter and tonight, sir, he has got his wish!' Dobby sank**

**into a deep bow again. 'But Harry Potter does not seem happy,' Dobby went on, straightening up again and kicking timidly at Harry. 'Dobby heard him**

**muttering in his sleep. Was Harry Potter having bad dreams?'**

"If dreaming about…whatever that first part was is considered bad sure," said Harry.

"I don't think that was actually dreaming though, and that corridor is obviously reoccurring," said Hermione.

"So it's important then?" asked Ron.

"Probably," agreed Hermione.

"Yeah, probably," snorted _Ron_ as the Order members tried not to look anywhere other than the book for fear of giving something away.

**'Not really bad,' said Harry, yawning and rubbing his eyes. 'I've had worse.'**

**The elf surveyed Harry out of his vast, orb-like eyes. Then he said very seriously, his ears drooping, 'Dobby wishes he could help Harry Potter, for Harry**

**Potter set Dobby free and Dobby is much, much happier now.'**

"Awe he's such a sweetie," cooed Emmeline. "What?" she exclaimed when Sirius gave her a funny look.

"Absolutely nothing," said Sirius quickly trying to get the image of Emmeline holding a baby with grey eyes and dark hair out of his head.

**Harry smiled.**

**'You can't help me, Dobby, but thanks for the offer.'**

**He bent and picked up his Potions book. He'd have to try to finish the essay tomorrow. He closed the book and as he did so the firelight illuminated the**

**thin white scars on the back of his hand-the result of his detentions with Umbridge ...**

"Oh yeah, Dobby would have to know some of the secret rooms the castle has," said Ginny excitedly.

"Yes but if Dumbledore hasn't found one then there's not much of a chance that the Elves will," said Dedalus as Ginny looked down disappointed.

"Let's not forget however," Harry whispered, his breath tickling her ear. "That Dumbledore never knew that the Marauders were Animagi, not to mention half

the stuff that Ron, Hermione and I have gotten up to," he continued, making Ginny's eyes light up and a grin spread over her face.

"That is true," she whispered back, which for some reason along with seeing Ginny light up like that made Harry's heart skip a beat.

**'Wait a moment- there is something you can do for me, Dobby,' said Harry slowly.**

**The elf looked round, beaming.**

**'Name it, Harry Potter, sir!'**

"He's just so eager to please," laughed Sirius.

"Sounds like someone I know," said Emmeline practically purring in Sirius ear and effectively making him flush.

**'I need to find a place where twenty-eight people can practise Defence Against the Dark Arts without being discovered by any of the teachers.**

**Especially,' Harry clenched his hand on the book, so that the scars shone pearly white, 'Professor Umbridge.'**

**He expected the elf's smile to vanish, his ears to droop; he expected him to say it was impossible, or else that he would try to find somewhere, but his**

**hopes were not high. What he had not expected was for Dobby to give a little skip, his ears waggling cheerfully, and clap his hands together.**

"Dobby is the best," grinned Ron.

**'Dobby knows the perfect place, sir!' he said happily. 'Dobby heard tell of it from the other house-elves when he came to Hogwarts, sir. It is known by us**

**as the Come and Go Room, sir, or else as the Room of Requirement!'**

_Harry _and _Ron _cheered at the mention of the room. Neither of them had been back to it since the fiend fyre had engulfed it. However Luna had told them that

the room was indeed back up and running as normal, though apparently it didn't like providing fires anymore.

**'Why?' said Harry curiously.**

**'Because it is a room that a person can only enter,' said Dobby seriously, 'when they have real need of it. Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not,**

**but when it appears, it is always equipped for the seeker's needs. Dobby has used it, sir,' said the elf, dropping his voice and looking guilty, 'when Winky**

**has been very drunk; he has hidden her in the Room of Requirement and he has found antidotes to Butterbeer there, and a nice elf-sized bed to settle her**

**on while she sleeps it off, sir ... and Dobby knows Mr. Filch has found extra cleaning materials there when he has run short, sir, and-'**

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he read the next sentence. It gave him a sort of proud feeling that Harry would remember something he said in a conversation

that occurred almost an entire year before, a conversation which Harry himself had been eavesdropping on in the first place.

**'And if you really needed a bathroom,' said Harry, suddenly remembering something Dumbledore had said at the Yule Ball the previous Christmas,**

**'would it fill itself with chamber pots?'**

"Or a hiding place from Filch," exclaimed that Twins.

"What?" asked Bill.

"Never mind," interrupted _Ron_ "It comes up in a couple of paragraphs I'm sure."

**'Dobby expects so, sir,' said Dobby, nodding earnestly. 'It is a most amazing room, sir.'**

**'How many people know about it?' said Harry, sitting up straighter in his chair.**

**'Very few, sir. Mostly people stumbles across it when they needs it, sir, but often they never finds it again, for they do not know that it is always there**

**waiting ****to be called into service, sir.'**

"It sounds perfect," said Hestia as Dedalus and a few others nodded in response.

**'It sounds brilliant,' said Harry, his heart racing. 'It sounds perfect, Dobby. When can you show me where it is?'**

**'Any time, Harry Potter, sir,' said Dobby, looking delighted at Harry's enthusiasm. 'We could go now, if you like!'**

"No go to bed," Sirius murmured to himself, not noticing that Harry had heard him and was now smiling at his godfather's display of non recklessness.

**For a moment Harry was tempted to go with Dobby. He was halfway out of his seat, intending to hurry upstairs for his Invisibility Cloak when, not for the**

**first time, a voice very much like Hermione's whispered in his ear: reckless. It was, after all, very late, he was exhausted, and had Snape's essay to**

**finish.**

**'Not tonight, Dobby,' said Harry reluctantly, sinking back into his chair. 'This is really important ... I don't want to blow it, it'll need proper planning.**

**Listen, can you just tell me exactly where this Room of Requirement is, and how to get in there?'**

"Good Harry, get some rest you can find the Room of Requirement later," praised Molly as Sirius and Remus nodded, knowing how hard it was to sneak around

when you were dead on your feet, better to find the room when his brain was fully functioning.

**Their robes billowed and swirled around them as they splashed across the flooded vegetable patch to double Herbology where they could hardly hear**

**what Professor Sprout was saying over the hammering of raindrops hard as hailstones on the greenhouse roof. The afternoon's Care of Magical**

**Creatures lesson was to be relocated from the storm-swept grounds to a free classroom on the ground floor and, to their intense relief, Angelina had**

**sought out her team at lunch to tell them that Quidditch practice was cancelled.**

"Thank heavens," muttered Molly.

**'Good,' said Harry quietly, when she told him, 'because we've found somewhere to have our first Defence meeting. Tonight, eight o'clock, seventh floor**

**opposite that tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by those trolls. Can you tell Katie and Alicia?'**

**She looked slightly taken aback but promised to tell the others. Harry returned hungrily to his sausages and mash. When he looked up to take a drink of**

**pumpkin juice, he found Hermione watching him.**

**'What?' he said thickly.**

**'Well ... it's just that Dobby's plans aren't always that safe. Don't you remember when he lost you all the bones in your arm?'**

"That wasn't exactly Dobby's fault though," said Harry then when he saw Ron and Hermione glance at each other than back at him in disbelief he clarified,

"Well, he was the reason my arm was broken, but he wasn't the one that vanished my bones!"

"What do you mean he broke your arm?" asked Sirius alarmed.

"It was second year, and Dobby was trying to keep me out of danger," replied Harry shrugging.

"By setting a bludger on you?" pointed out Fred, causing Sirius to raise his eyebrows and Harry to scowl.

"He wanted me to have to go home so I wouldn't get eaten by a Basilisk alright," defended Harry. "It wasn't his fault Lockhart decided he could suddenly heal

broken bones," he added as Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath as he contemplated the man's idiocy, I mean really who goes to

mend a broken arm and vanishes the bones instead!

**'This room isn't just some mad idea of Dobby's; Dumbledore knows about it, too, he mentioned it to me at the Yule Ball.'**

Dumbledore looked up from the book at _Harry_, a smirk dancing in the corner of his mouth. "I don't particularly remember mentioning the Room of Requirements

my boy," he said.

"You at least knew about the room, just not what it was called…or where it was…or…" replied _Harry_ trailing off sheepishly.

"I think you should stop talking _Harry_," said Luna, her voice making a tinkling sort of sound as she giggled.

"Yes, thanks Luna," _Harry_ replied before ducking his head and once again listening to Dumbledore as he continued to read.

**Hermione's expression cleared.**

"Oh, so as soon as Dumbledore knows about it, it's okay!" grumbled Harry.

"You know I don't mean it like that," said Hermione, glaring at Harry before he nodded.

**'Dumbledore told you about it?'**

**'Just in passing,' said Harry, shrugging.**

**'Oh, well, that's all right then,' said Hermione briskly and raised no more objections.**

"From what I've heard Dobby doesn't seem to be always that reliable," said Molly shrugging. _Ron _and _Harry_ however, disagreed Dobby was always reliable

especially when they had needed him the most. But they wouldn't bring that up now, not with at least another book and a half before that particular tragedy

occurred.

**Together with Ron they had spent most of the day seeking out those people who had signed their names to the list in the Hog's Head and telling them**

**where to meet that evening. Somewhat to Harry's disappointment, it was Ginny who managed to find Cho Chang and her friend first; **

The teenagers, snickered at Harry as he turned red.

"Sorry Harry," giggled Ginny, turning Harry an even darker shade of red.

**however, by the end of dinner he was confident that the news had been passed to every one of the twenty-five people who had turned up in the Hog's**

**Head.**

**At half past seven Harry, Ron and Hermione left the Gryffindor common room, Harry clutching a certain piece of aged parchment in his hand. Fifth-years **

**were allowed to be out in the corridors until nine o'clock, but all three of them kept looking around nervously as they made their way along the seventh**

**floor.**

"Filch has already tried to search you with no evidence, so it's probably good to be a bit wary," said Arthur as some of the others nodded.

**'Hold it,' Harry warned, unfolding the piece of parchment at the top of the last staircase, tapping it with his wand and muttering, 'I solemnly swear that I**

**am up to no good.'**

"Good idea, check the map," said Fred.

**A map of Hogwarts appeared on the blank surface of the parchment. Tiny black moving dots, labelled with names, showed where various people were.**

"That really is quite a remarkable invention boys, I suppose this is what you were working on in all of those late nights in the library," said Dumbledore,

chuckling as Sirius and Remus gaped at him.

"You were in the library?" gasped Emmeline, smirking as Sirius gave her a look of indignation.

"Of course I was in the library, why do people think I never went into the library?" he cried.

"Oh we knew you went in the library Black, only it wasn't the books you were studying," commented Snape silkily.

"Like you would know," replied Sirius glaring at the other man.

**'Filch is on the second floor,' said Harry, holding the map close to his eyes, 'and Mrs. Norris is on the fourth.'**

**'And Umbridge?' said Hermione anxiously.**

**'In her office,' said Harry, pointing. 'OK, let's go.'**

"That's set up well," said Remus thoughtfully.

"Yeah, why weren't people ever away from where we were planning pranks," Sirius asked Remus.

"Because you and James did most of them during the day," he replied shrugging.

**They hurried along the corridor to the place Dobby had described to Harry, a stretch of blank wall opposite an enormous tapestry depicting Barnabas the**

**Barmy's foolish attempt to train trolls for the ballet.**

"Well he wasn't called Barmy for nothing," commented Arthur chuckling slightly as the Twins rolled their eyes, but snickered all the same.

**'OK,' said Harry quietly, while a moth-eaten troll paused in his relentless clubbing of the would-be ballet teacher to watch them. 'Dobby said to walk past**

**this bit of wall three times, concentrating hard on what we need.'**

**They did so, turning sharply at the window just beyond the blank stretch of wall, then at the man-sized vase on its other side. Ron had screwed up his**

**eyes in concentration; Hermione was whispering something under her breath; Harry's fists were clenched as he stared ahead of him.**

_**We need somewhere to learn to fight ... he thought. Just give us a place to practise ... somewhere they can't find us ...**_

**'Harry!' said Hermione sharply, as they wheeled around after their third walk past.**

**A highly polished door had appeared in the wall. Ron was staring at it, looking slightly wary.**

"It's not like I know what's going to be behind it, besides with Harry around it's probably going to be another three-headed dog or something," defended _Ron_.

"What three-headed dog?" shrieked Molly.

"Fluffy, Hagrid's guard dog," replied _Harry_ trying to down play what had happened before any of them got into trouble.

**Harry reached out, seized the brass handle, pulled open the door and led the way into a spacious room lit with flickering torches like those that**

**illuminated the dungeons eight floors below.**

**The walls were lined with wooden bookcases and instead of chairs there were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room**

**carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors and a large, cracked Foe-Glass that Harry was sure had hung, the previous year,**

**in the fake Moody's office.**

"Will the Foe-Glass still work if it's cracked?" asked Harry, it hadn't been cracked when he'd last seen it.

"It should," answered Bill. "You would only have to keep an eye on the section where the crack is because the image might be even more distorted but yeah, it

should work either way."

**'These will be good when we're practising Stunning,' said Ron enthusiastically, prodding one of the cushions with his foot.**

"Saves us from stealing the ones out of Flitwick's cupboard," nodded Ron.

**'And just look at these books!' said Hermione excitedly, running a finger along the spines of the large leather-bound tomes. 'A Compendium of Common**

**Curses and their Counter-Actions ... The Dark Arts Outsmarted ... Self-Defensive Spellwork ... wow ...' She looked around at Harry, her face glowing, and**

**he saw that the presence of hundreds of books had finally convinced Hermione that what they were doing was right. 'Harry, this is wonderful, there's**

**everything we need here!'**

"I do believe that's why it's called the Room of _Requirement_," laughed Hestia as Hermione laughed her cheeks slightly pink.

"I guess so," she replied.

**And without further ado she slid Jinxes for the Jinxed from its shelf, sank on to the nearest cushion and began to read.**

_Surprise, surprise_ thought Snape as he rolled his eyes.

**There was a gentle knock on the door. Harry looked round. Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati and Dean had arrived.**

**'Whoa,' said Dean, staring around, impressed. 'What is this place?'**

**Harry began to explain, but before he had finished more people had arrived and he had to start all over again. **

"Patience is a virtue," chuckled Dumbledore.

**By the time eight o'clock arrived, every cushion was occupied. Harry moved across to the door and turned the key protruding from the lock; it clicked in**

**a satisfyingly loud way and everybody fell silent, looking at him. Hermione carefully marked her page of Jinxes for the Jinxed and set the book aside.**

**'Well,' said Harry, slightly nervously. 'This is the place we've found for practice sessions, and you've-er-obviously found it OK.'**

"Obviously Potter, or they wouldn't be there," taunted Snape.

"They could have gotten lost on the way there sir, you know how those staircases can be," retorted _Harry_, not even batting an eyelid when Snape glared at

him, his lip curling slightly.

**'It's fantastic!' said Cho, and several people murmured their agreement.**

**'It's bizarre,' said Fred, frowning around at it. 'We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then.'**

"Affirmative," said George, answering his book brother. "A broom cupboard that was definitely not there the next time we went passed," he added as Fred

nodded.

**'Hey, Harry, what's this stuff?' asked Dean from the rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass.**

"Didn't we learn about these last year?" asked Ron looking a bit confused.

"No, well yeah we did, but not in class," responded Harry. "Fake Moody told me* about them and then I told you and Hermione, who then went to the library to

research them," he added not missing a beat.

"Oh yeah," sighed Ron nodding in remembrance as Hermione fondly rolled her eyes.

**'Dark detectors,' said Harry, stepping between the cushions to reach them. 'Basically they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you**

**don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled ...'**

"They don't tend to react to Polyjuice very well," grumbled Sirius, hating that Crouch Jnr had been so close to Harry for so long.

**He gazed for a moment into the cracked Foe-Glass; shadowy figures were moving around inside it, though none was recognisable. He turned his back on**

**it.**

"That's always the best idea, there's no point in obsessing over it," agreed Molly.

"Besides we already know who most of them would be," added Tonks semi-cheerfully, earning a snicker from Remus and a disapproving look from Molly.

**'Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and-er-' He noticed a raised hand. 'What, Hermione?'**

**'I think we ought to elect a leader,' said Hermione.**

**'Harry's leader,' said Cho at once, looking at Hermione as though she were mad.**

Sirius snickered, but when he went to say something Harry elbowed him in the leg.

"You're too easy Pup," he laughed as Harry glared at him.

"Leave him alone Sirius," muttered Emmeline, poking Sirius when he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Not a chance Love," he replied winking as Emmeline tried to hold back a blush.

**Harry's stomach did yet another back-flip.**

_Oh Merlin _thought Harry as he once again hid his face on the coffee table.

**'Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly,' said Hermione, unperturbed. 'It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So-everyone who thinks**

**Harry ought to be our leader?'**

**Everybody put up their hand, even Zacharias Smith, though he did it very half-heartedly.**

"He probably only did because he knew he was going to be out-voted," said _Ron _as _Harry _nodded in agreement.

**'Er-right, thanks,' said Harry, who could feel his face burning. 'And-what, Hermione?'**

"Sorry Harry," laughed Hermione sheepishly.

**'I also think we ought to have a name,' she said brightly, her hand still in the air. 'It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?'**

"Course it does," said Sirius thinking of the Marauders back when they were at the top, before the war and their friendship became twisted and destroyed by

the war.

**'Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?' said Angelina hopefully.**

**'Or the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group?' suggested Fred.**

**'I was thinking,' said Hermione, frowning at Fred, 'more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside**

**meetings.'**

"That's probably a good idea, though I do like the Anti-Umbridge League," giggled Dedalus.

**'The Defence Association?' said Cho. 'The DA for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?'**

"Yeah but don't call it that, call it…" said Ginny frowning, she looked around the room before her eyes rested to the Headmaster reading the book.

"Dumbledore's Army," she finished grinning. Dumbledore, as flattered as he was chuckled as he read the next sentence.

**'Yeah, the DA's good,' said Ginny. 'Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army, because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?'**

There were a number of chuckles around the room at both Ginny's reasoning and the way she had repeated herself in the book.

**There was a good deal of appreciative murmuring and laughter at this.**

**'All in favour of the DA?' said Hermione bossily, kneeling up on her cushion to count. 'That's a majority-motion passed!'**

"I'm not bossy," said Hermione before crossing her arms in a huff.

"Could have fooled me," said Ron in Harry's ear, missing Hermione's hurt look.

**She pinned the piece of parchment with all of their signatures on it on to the wall and wrote across the top in large letters:**

**DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY**

**'Right,' said Harry, when she had sat down again, 'shall we get practising then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know,**

**the ****Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic but I've found it really useful-'**

"You could say it's a signature move," laughed _Ron _in _Harry's_ ear.

"Shut up," he replied elbowing the red head.

**'Oh, please,' said Zacharias Smith, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. 'I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do**

**you?'**

Harry shivered while _Harry_ snorted.

"Those are significantly different reactions," commented Luna looking between the two Harry's curiously.

**'I've used it against him,' said Harry quietly. 'It saved my life in June.'**

**Smith opened his mouth stupidly. The rest of the room was very quiet**

**'But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave,' Harry said.**

"And that's all you have to say on the matter, if anyone tries to press you for information, don't say a word," encouraged Molly while Sirius added,

"Hex them if they get too pushy."

Molly sighed just when she thought Sirius as acting more mature and he goes and says something like that.

**Smith did not move. Nor did anybody else.**

**'OK,' said Harry, his mouth slightly drier than usual with all these eyes upon him, 'I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practise.'**

**It felt very odd to be issuing instructions, but not nearly as odd as seeing them followed. Everybody got to their feet at once and divided up. Predictably,**

**Neville was left partnerless.**

"Maybe you should try for one more member, or if that Marietta girl doesn't come then everyone will have a partner," reasoned Hestia.

**'You can practise with me,' Harry told him. 'Right-on the count of three, then-one, two, three-'**

**The room was suddenly full of shouts of flew in all directions; missed spells hit books on shelves and sent them flying into the air. Harry was too quick**

**for Neville, whose wand went spinning out of his hand, hit the ceiling in a shower of sparks and landed with a clatter on top of a bookshelf, from which**

**Harry retrieved it with a Summoning Charm. Glancing around, he thought he had been right to suggest they practise the basics first; there was a lot of**

**shoddy spellwork going on; many people were not succeeding in Disarming their opponents at all, but merely causing them to jump backwards a few**

**paces or wince as their feeble spell whooshed over them.**

"That's kind of sad…" said Emmeline shaking her head.

**'Expelliarmus!' said Neville, and Harry, caught unawares, felt his wand fly out of his hand.**

**'I DID IT!' said Neville gleefully. 'I've never done it before-I DID IT!'**

**'Good one!' said Harry encouragingly, deciding not to point out that in a real duel Neville's opponent was unlikely to be staring in the opposite direction with his**

**wand held loosely at his side.**

"Well he is only learning," said Molly.

**'Listen, Neville, can you take it in turns to practise with Ron and Hermione for a couple of minutes so I can walk around and see how the rest are doing?'**

**Harry moved off into the middle of the room. Something very odd was happening to Zacharias Smith. Every time he opened his mouth to disarm Anthony**

**Goldstein, his own wand would fly out of his hand, yet Anthony did not seem to be making a sound. Harry did not have to look far to solve the mystery:**

**Fred and George were several feet from Smith and taking it in turns to point their wands at his back.**

There was laughter from around the room at the Twins antics but Molly could be heard above the laughter scolding her sons.

"Harry is trying to teach a class, how is he supposed to do that if you two are hindering the others," she said frowning.

"It's just a bit of fun mum," said Fred shrugging.

"Will you still be saying that when he loses a duel with a Death Eater?" she asked sternly the Twins blanched and it was in that moment that _Harry _understood

why Sirius had said the Twins weren't ready to join the Order.

**'Sorry Harry,' said George hastily, when Harry caught his eye. 'Couldn't resist.'**

**Harry walked around the other pairs, trying to correct those who were doing the spell wrong. Ginny was teamed with Michael Corner; she was doing**

**very well, whereas Michael was either very bad or unwilling to jinx her.**

Ginny growled at the thought.

**Ernie Macmillan was flourishing his wand unnecessarily, giving his partner time to get in under his guard; the Creevey brothers were enthusiastic but**

**erratic and mainly responsible for all the books leaping off the shelves around them; Luna Lovegood was similarly patchy, occasionally sending Justin**

**Finch-Fletchleys wand spinning out of his hand, at other times merely causing his hair to stand on end.**

"So they all obviously need that practice," pointed out Bill.

**'OK, stop!' Harry shouted. 'Stop. STOP!'**

**I need a whistle, he thought, and immediately spotted one lying on top of the nearest row of books. He caught it up and blew hard. Everyone lowered**

**their wands.**

"I love magic," smiled Harry.

**'That wasn't bad,' said Harry, 'but there's definite room for improvement.' Zacharias Smith glared at him. 'Let's try again.'**

**He moved off around the room again, stopping here and there to make suggestions. Slowly, the general performance improved.**

"That's good to know," snorted Snape, at least the school wasn't full of incompetent students.

**He avoided going near Cho and her friend for a while, but after walking twice around every other pair in the room felt he could not ignore them any**

**longer.**

**'Oh no,' said Cho rather wildly as he approached. 'Expelliarmious!I mean, Expellimellius! I-oh, sorry, Marietta!'**

"Shouldn't she already know how to do this, I mean she's in the year above you," said Ginny critically.

"I think it might have had something to do with Harry standing next to her," said Emmeline raising her perfectly sculpted eyebrow in Harry's direction.

**Her curly-haired friend's sleeve had caught fire; Marietta extinguished it with her own wand and glared at Harry as though it was his fault.**

**'You made me nervous, I was doing all right before then!' Cho told Harry ruefully.**

Harry felt his stomach flip as Dumbledore read the sentence out, then his face proceeded to turn red as the Twins let out a few cat calls.

**'That was quite good,' Harry lied, but when she raised her eyebrows he said, 'Well, no, it was lousy, but I know you can do it properly, I was watching**

**from over there.'**

**She laughed. Her friend Marietta looked at them rather sourly and turned away.**

_I bet she is only there because Cho likes Harry_ thought Hermione, _I might have to come up with a way to prevent that._

**'Don't mind her,' Cho muttered. 'She doesn't really want to be here but I made her come with me. Her parents have forbidden her to do anything that**

**might upset Umbridge. You see-her mum works for the Ministry.'**

"So does everybody else's," muttered _Harry._

**'What about your parents?' asked Harry.**

**'Well, they've forbidden me to get on the wrong side of Umbridge, too,' said Cho, drawing herself up proudly. 'But if they think I'm not going to fight You**

**Know-Who after what happened to Cedric-'**

**She broke off, looking rather confused, and an awkward silence fell between them;**

_Confused, why is she confused? _Harry asked himself feeling very confused himself, Cho liked him, didn't she?

**Terry Boot's wand went whizzing past Harry's ear and hit Alicia Spinnet hard on the nose.**

**'Well, my dad is very supportive of any anti-Ministry action!' said Luna Lovegood proudly from just behind Harry; evidently she had been eavesdropping**

**on his conversation**

"Thanks for the save though Luna," said _Harry _as Luna smiled back at him.

**while Justin Finch-'Fletchley attempted to disentangle himself from the robes that had flown up over his head. 'He's always saying he'd believe anything**

**of Fudge; I mean, the number of goblins Fudge has had assassinated! And of course he uses the Department of Mysteries to develop terrible poisons,**

**which he secretly feeds to anybody who disagrees with him. And then there's his Umgubular Slashkilter-'**

"It's a kind of fairy that are trained to suck the life out of people that Fudge doesn't like, but they're so small you can only see them if you know what to look

for. At least that's what Daddy says," commented Luna

"Isn't that a Dementor?" Fred whispered to George who shrugged in response**.**

**'Don't ask,' Harry muttered to Cho as she opened her mouth, looking puzzled. She giggled.**

'I'd say she was being rude but some of the stuff Luna comes up with is just too amusing," whispered Sirius to Emmeline.

"Yes, she certainly has quite the imagination," she replied.

**'Hey, Harry,' Hermione called from the other end of the room, 'have you checked the time?'**

**He looked down at his watch and was shocked to see it was already ten past nine, which meant they needed to get back to their common rooms**

**immediately or risk being caught and punished by Filch for being out of bounds. He blew his whistle; everybody stopped shouting 'Expelliarmus' and the**

**last couple of wands clattered to the floor.**

**'Well, that was pretty good,' said Harry, 'but we've overrun, we'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?'**

"You know if you make them irregular meetings then technically you're still obeying the decree," said Remus.

**'Sooner!' said Dean Thomas eagerly and many people nodded in agreement.**

**Angelina, however, said quickly, 'The Quidditch season's about to start, we need team practices too!'**

**'Let's say next Wednesday night, then,' said Harry, 'we can decide on additional meetings then. Come on, we'd better get going.'**

"That's a good idea, there's no sense in waiting around if you're all already out past curfew," nodded Arthur.

**He pulled out the Marauder's Map again and checked it carefully for signs of teachers on the seventh floor. He let them all leave in threes and fours,**

**watching their tiny dots anxiously to see that they returned safely to their dormitories: the Hufflepuffs to the basement corridor that also led to the**

**kitchens; the Ravenclaws to a tower on the west side of the castle, and the Gryffindors along the corridor to the Fat Lady's portrait.**

"I thought students were not meant to know where the other common rooms were?" asked Molly looking confused, at least that's how it worked in her day.

"Most students don't but I'm assuming the Marauders found them all during the creation of this map," clarified Dumbledore.

"Yeah but we never went in them, so we didn't have a detailed part for the other three common rooms," explained Remus.

**'That was really, really good, Harry,' said Hermione, when finally it was just her, Harry and Ron who were left.**

**'Yeah, it was!' said Ron enthusiastically, as they slipped out of the door and watched it melt back into stone behind them. 'Did you see me disarm**

**Hermione, Harry?'**

_Harry _laughed, he had indeed seen Ron disarm Hermione and the looks on both their faces had been priceless. Ron had had the biggest shit-eating grin ever

and Hermione had looked like she's been slapped in the face with a fish.

**'Only once,' said Hermione, stung. 'I got you loads more than you got me-'**

"You guys can't even congratulate Harry without it turning into an argument!" laughed Tonks as Hermione and Ron blushed.

**'I did not only get you once, I got you at least three times-'**

**'Well, if you're counting the one where you tripped over your own feet and knocked the wand out of my hand-'**

"Hey it still counts!" cried _Ron_ as Hermione glared at him and _Harry _rolled his eyes.

**They argued all the way back to the common room, but Harry was not listening to them. He had one eye on the Marauder's Map, but he was also thinking**

**of Cho saying he made her nervous.**

Harry groaned as the Twins cat called again.

"And on that note, I think it's time for some lunch," said Dumbledore as he closed the book and placed it back on the coffee table. There was the usual

commotion as people began to stand and move towards the kitchen, that was until _Ron_ started shouting;

"Ow, ow, ow, ow" he cried as he leaped from his seat and tore at something in his back pocket.

"What, what's wrong?" shrieked Molly as _Ron_ rubbed at his backside before turning to glare at a laughing _Harry_.

"She bloody well did that on purpose!" he yelled indignantly.

"Maybe she thought you'd forget about it," shrugged _Harry _as he laughed again.

"Do either of you want to explain what that was?" asked Bill as the others nodded curiously.

_Ron_ sunk back into his seat as he showed the others a single piece of neatly folded parchment. "Message from Hermione, she put a bloody heating charm on it"

he told them before unfolding it.

"What do you mean 'message from Hermione' how can she have sent you a message?" asked Fred.

"Well, we didn't have time to do a lot of research before we left. Like we said before; Kingsley and 'Mione had time to get to Dolohov's hideout but other than

working out what date we needed to get back to-" began _Harry_.

"Not that we actually know how we got here, 'Moine just gave us a potion and said the Unspeakables owed her a favour," interrupted _Ron_.

"Right, other than that we're kind of relying on Hermione and Kingsley to send us back information on where to look and what plans Dolohov has," finished

_Harry_.

"And they're doing that how?" asked George. _Harry _and _Ron _exchanged looks,

"It's kind of like Tom Riddle's diary," said _Harry_ before quickly adding, "not that it's going to kill anyone, but the idea that there's an identical copy of this piece

of parchment with Hermione, and whatever she rights on it will show up on this copy and vice versa." The group nodded.

"So what does she have to say?" asked Emmeline.

"Um…" trailed off _Ron _as he scanned the letter, "Oh they've found out who the lackeys are," he said excitedly as he looked up at _Harry_, "told you it was

Withers."

"Wait Withers?" asked Sirius his eyes widening, "you mean the sick bastard locked up in Azkaban for using the Imperious curse to…rape Muggle women?"

"That's the one," said _Ron _looking a little green.

"Who's the other guy?" asked Tonks, steering the conversation back to the letter.

"Some bloke called Teodore Darvill, ever heard of him?" asked _Ron _glancing up at the Order members before going back to the letter.

"I don't know him but I can remember my parents going to his father's for 'Pureblood' parties," said Sirius.

"He's a low level Death Eater, a healer, which is probably why the Auror and Order members haven't heard of him," added Snape before glaring at anyone who

tried to question how he knew that.

"But if he's a Death Eater why haven't _Ron_ and I heard of him?" asked _Harry_.

"He didn't participate in the Battle, and according to Hermione, he was reported as missing by his wife a couple of days ago, and when Hermione went to

question her, she said he'd been kidnapped," stated _Ron_ as he finished reading the letter.

"So if I am to guess correctly, this Mr Darvill is not here by his own free will," said Dumbledore "and that begs the question, what are you going to do about

him?" he asked looking between the two younger men.

"Send him home, time travel aside, it's still a basic hostage situation and provided he doesn't do anything stupid while we're here then he can go home,"

replied _Harry _shrugging.

"Wait you said he was a Death Eater, I thought they all went to Azkaban?" asked Harry looking a little confused.

"Not all of the Death Eaters went to Azkaban, some were given special consideration and some that didn't fight in the final battle were let off with a slightly

less severe punishment," answered _Ron_ hesitantly.

"What about Malfoy?" asked Sirius suddenly. _Harry _and _Ron_ exchanged glances. Lucius Malfoy had been a special consideration, for two reasons; firstly

because he didn't participate in the battle, and secondly was because after the Battle Malfoy's health had deteriorated due to his stint in Azkaban the year

before, as well as the stress that occurred while 'Britain's most mental' were guests in his house.

"He's under house arrest, he was removed from his position at the Ministry and isn't allowed to set foot in Knockturn Alley, but no, he's not in Azkaban," said

_Harry _not looking anyone in the eye.

"How the bloody hell can he _not_ be in Azkaban, after what he did to Ginny?" asked Ron loudly.

"Look you lot haven't lived this yet, Malfoy was given a fair trial and that is that, can we move on please," replied _Ron _hotly.

"Right then, lunch time," said Molly taking charge and ushering the group down the stairs. Just before heading down the stairs _Harry _turned to _Ron_,

"That could have gone better. Was there anything else in the letter?" he asked quietly.

"Just that Teddy misses you," replied _Ron_ as he folded that parchment back up and once again slipped it in his back pocket. However what neither of them

noticed was Sirius and Remus walking behind them, well they didn't until Remus asked the question that they were both excited to and terrified of answering.

"Who's Teddy?

* * *

***please correct me if I'm wrong :)**


	25. Interlude

**I do not own Harry Potter anything that you may recognise or is in bold is the work of JKRowling. Please Review :)**

**Okay so bit of a short chapter, mainly because it's going to take awhile to get the next reading chapter up and i didn't want to leave you all hanging for that long so I decided to upload the first part of the chapter.**

* * *

_Harry_ came to a stop in the small juncture at the bottom of the stairs; close enough to the entrance to the kitchen that he could see the others already moving around the table and stove to prepare for the meal. _Harry_ closed his eyes for a second, mentally scolding himself for being so careless.

Remus wasn't supposed to know about Teddy yet, he was still very tentative around Tonks and though _Harry _had been watching them show growing affections towards each other, he knew that Remus was a flight risk at the best of times and was likely to react badly. He was of course going to be a brilliant father and from what Andromeda had told _Harry_, he had been for the short month he had spent with Teddy.

_Harry_ slowly turned to his right, momentarily meeting_ Ron's_ own worried gaze before half turning to address the two men who had now joined them at the bottom of the stairs. Remus had a curious look on his face as he repeated his question.

"Uh, he's…the son of one of our friends," said _Ron_ quickly, covering for _Harry's_ lack of explanation. _Harry_ nodded in agreement, but Sirius could sense something funny about their, or lack thereof, story. He also found it slightly suspicious that _Ron_ wouldn't look Remus in the eye and he could see _Harry's_ eyes flit over to Tonks, who was carefully setting the table, then back to Remus without trying to look to obvious.

"Why would Hermione say he missed you then?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

"Erm, I babysit him a lot while his parents are away, and he kind of thinks I'm his uncle or something," _Harry_ replied. It technically wasn't a lie; he _did_ babysit for Andromeda when she needed a break as well as visiting his godson on weekends. This however didn't seem to mollify Sirius and instead _Harry_ found himself answering several more questions. Remus on the other hand wasn't even paying attention; he nodded when _Harry_ answered one of Sirius's questions but beyond that was lost in his own world, silently wondering who the parents of the boy were and if he knew them.

Remus had never really thought about having children of his own until he had started really interacting with them. It had started with Harry of course. He had seen how happy it had made James and Lily and often thought of what it would be like to have his own little baby to look after. The desire for children had only grown during his brief stint at a Muggle library where he had spent most of the day reading stories to small children. The idea of course, like many of Remus's dreams and desires had been crushed during a full moon. The disturbing image of a mangled Muggle child on the news still haunted him to this day, and while it wasn't him that had done it, Remus knew that he was capable of doing it anyway. It was because of this in particular that even if by some miracle he did give into Tonks and she truly accepted him enough to agree to marry him (this thought on its own made his stomach flip), he could never bring himself to inflict his condition onto an innocent child genetically or otherwise. Remus was pulled from his depressing thoughts by Ron loudly suggesting they should join the others for lunch.

However, before _Harry_ could escape to the safety of a larger audience, Sirius grabbed him by the shoulder.

"He's Remus and Tonks's son isn't he," he said in a harsh whisper, watching as Harry's face paled. Harry nodded and Sirius's eyes widened, he almost laughed at the thought with Remus having a bouncing baby boy but then he noticed the sadness and anxiety that lingered in _Harry's_ eyes. Something wasn't right, Harry had said that he babysat a lot, but bar full moons there wasn't any reason that Remus and Tonks would need one, not with Tonks parents around anyway. Sirius knew that if Remus was given a proper chance at a family (and actually went through with it) he wouldn't leave them unless he absolutely had to, but…that meant…

Harry watched nervously as Sirius suddenly stiffened.

"You can't say anything, not one word!" hissed _Harry_, covering Sirius's mouth before he could say anything.

"Hmmm mmm mm mmm?" asked Sirius before realising that_ Harry_ hadn't understood him. He moved _Harry's_ hand before repeating incredulously;

"How can you say that?"

"What am I meant to say? I'm sorry Remus but you had a son and then died?" replied _Harry_ his voice rising in an angry whisper. Sirius sighed in defeat knowing that there was no way that Harry would be able to just say that outright. Well, not without giving the majority of the room heart failure at the least. He nodded while _Harry_ gave him a sad look before moving into the kitchen, sitting next to _Ron_ and immersing himself in the conversation between_ Ron_ and the Twins.

Sirius sighed again realising the implication of Remus being dead in the future, _Harry_ was alone. He didn't know when either of their deaths happened, though he had a sneaking suspicion that his was fast approaching, in the book anyway. _Harry_ had perhaps gone through the rest of his schooling without Sirius to help him, he'd taken down Voldemort with probably only Ron and Hermione to help him, and depending on when Remus died, he could have graduated and become an Auror all on his own and with his or Remus's guidance. _It was a bit depressing_ thought Sirius as he watched _Harry_ laugh at something George had said, but even with the growing sadness he felt, it also made Sirius immensely proud of his godson.

Sirius gaze drifted over to Tonks as she sat herself next to Remus, her arm brushing his as she reached for the water; his elbow bumping her as he spread some butter on a slice of bread, which effective gave them a quiet push into their tentative world of flirting and blushing. It was in that moment that Sirius made himself a promise. Not matter what happened in the book, or in the future, Sirius would be around for them, all of them. He _would_ see Remus and Tonks get married, he _would_ see Harry graduate and he _would_ most definitely meet Teddy.

* * *

Despite the dodgy beginning _Ron_ thought lunch was a pretty cheerful affair, Sirius and Emmeline openly flirted while Remus and Tonks did so in a more private manner, Luna and Ginny had watched both couples with interest, giggling every now and then when someone turned a particularly bright shade of red. Molly scolded the Twins as they tried to get information about their shop out of _Harry _and himself, while Hermione tried to learn more about D.E.E.P.E.R. (not that either of them could answer her questions) in between talking to Arthur, Hestia, Bill and Dedalus about different Muggle contraptions and dress codes. Harry and Ron were engaged in a game of chess, to which Harry was severely loosing. Snape was obviously enjoying himself throwing barbs at _Harry_, and seemed to be getting used to the fact that _Harry_ threw them right back. And Dumbledore sat back and watched the entire thing with twinkling eyes and a fond smile.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and waited as the group looked up from their respective activities. "I think it's time we headed back into the drawing room to continue with the next chapter," he said. The others nodded and in a not quite orderly manner made their way back upstairs to their seats.

"I think we're back to the start of our circle," said Hermione as everyone took their seats.

"I believe I'm reading then," said Remus picking up the book and almost jumping when Tonks tucked her feet under his leg. Remus cleared his throat and tried to hold back a blush before reading "**The Lion and the Serpent**".


End file.
